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A GENERAL HISTORY 
OF THE WORLD 



A GENERAL HISTORY 
OE THE WORLD 



OSCAR BROWNING, M.A. 

SENIOR FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND LATE UNIVERSITY 

LECTURER IN HISTORY ; VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY; AND HONORARY ASSOCIATE 

OF THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ROME 



WITH MAPS AND 
GENEALOGICAL TABLES 



LONDON 
EDWARD ARNOLD 

1913 

[AIL Riglds Preserved) 



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PREFACE 

I have always been of opinion, as a teacher of History, 
that the study of that subject should begin with the 
General History of the World, as is the practice in 
every country but our own, and not with the history 
of England, which is usual amongst ourselves. I hope 
that the present book may be useful for this purpose. 
The book was written almost entirely out of England, and 
I wish to express my gratitude to my friend Mr. Gaskoin, 
of Jesus College, Cambridge, for having laboriously and 
carefully read the proofs, and thus helped to remove any 
errors which may have arisen from that circumstance. 

OSCAR BROWNING. 



CONTENTS 

BOOK I 

CHAP. PAGE 

I. Egypt to the time of the Hyksos, from the 

EARLIEST TIMES TO 1580 B.C. .... 1 

II. Babylon and Assyria, from the earliest times 

to c. 1570 b.c .17 

III. The Indo-Germanic Race — Egypt under the 

Empire, 1580-523 b.c. . . . . .35 

IV. The Assyrian Empire 1850-606 b.c. : Jewish 

History to 537 b.c. . . . . .46 

V. Medes and Persians — Greece and the Persian 

Wars, 780-479 b.c 69 

VI. History of Greece, 478-387 b.c. ... 94 

VII. History of Greece, 387-338 b.c. . . .112 

VIII. Early History of Rome, 753-c. 350 b.c. . . 130 

IX. Growth of the Power of Eome, 390-201 b.c. . 149 

X. Alexander the Great and his Successors, 

336-213 b.c 165 

XI. Rome the Mistress of the World, 214-44 b.c. 181 
XII. The Roman Empire, 44 b.c-96 a.d. . . . 203 

XIII. The Roman Empire, 96-337 a.d. . . . 225 

XIV. History of Europe, 337-565 a.d. . . . 244 



BOOK II 

I. The Prankish Empire, a.d. 486-768 — Rise of 

Mohammedanism, a.d. 570-802 . . .261 
II. Charlemagne and his Successors, a.d. 768-928 . 283 



viii CONTENTS 

CHAP. PAGE 

III. The Norsemen — The Danes in England, a.d. 835- 

1042 303 

IV. The Empire Kestored — Henry the Fowler, 

a.d. 919-936— Otto I., a.d. 936-973 . . 319 
V. The Empire, a.d. 973-1106 — The Crusades, 

a.d. 1096 and 1146 332 

VI. Frederick Barbarossa, a.d. 1152-1191 — 'The 

Third Crusade ...... 349 

VII. The Empire, a.d. 1191 - 1250 — The Fourth 

Crusade, a.d. 1204 362 

VIII. The Fall of the Hohenstauffen, a.d. 1250-1268 
— Naples and Sicily, a.d. 1268-1301 — End 
of the Crusades ...... 382 

IX. The Hansa, a.d. 1150-1400— The Iberian Pen- 
insula, a.d. 1000-1344 — England, a.d. 1087- 

1189 396 

X. History of England, a.d. 1189-1377 . . .417 
XI. France, a.d. 1180-1350 — Germany and Italy, 

a.d. 1271-1347 439 

XII. France, a.d. 1350-1380 — England, a.d. 1377- 

1421 — The Iberian Peninsula . . .451 

XIII. The Empire and the Papacy, a.d. 1347-1449 . 469 

XIV. The Great Cities of Italy — Eastern Europe . 482 
XV. Florence, a.d. 1429-1492 — The End of the 

Middle Ages, a.d. 1453-1519 . . .499 

BOOK III 

I. Charles V. and the Reformation, a.d. 1519- 

1556 515 

II. England, a.d. 1509-1558 — The Counter Refor- 
mation — The Revolt of the Netherlands, 

a.d. 1556-1609 527 

III. France, a.d. 1560-1610 — The Reign of Eliza- 
beth, a.d. 1558-1603 539 



CONTENTS ix 

CHAP. PAGE 

IV. The Thirty Years' War, a.d. 1608-1648— 

England, 1603-1649 557 

Y. France, a.d. 1610-1656— England, a.d. 1649- 

1660 . . . . . . . .573 

VI. Louis XIV., 1661-1697 — Austria and the 

Turks, 1664-1699— England, 1660-1685 . 584 
VII. The War of the Spanish Succession, a.d. 1688- 

1714— England, a.d. 1689-1714. . . 601 
VIII. The Northern War, a.d. 1700-1721 — England, 

a.d. 1714-1740 614 

IX. Prussia, a.d. 1675-1786— Russia, a.d. 1762- 
1776 — Austria, a.d. 1765-1790— England, 

a.d. 1740-1784 627 

X. Pitt's Ministry, a.d. 1783-1801— The French 

Revolution, a.d. 1789-1795 . . . 644 
XL Napoleon Bonaparte, a.d. 1795-1799— England 
and the French Revolution, a.d. 1790- 

1799 658 

XII. Napoleon, a.d. 1800-1805 . . . .671 

XIII. Napoleon, a.d. 1806-1815 684 

XIY. Reaction in Europe, a.d. 1815-1830 — England, 

a.d. 1815-1837— Europe, a.d. 1830-1848 . 703 
XV. The Second French Empire, a.d. 1851-1852 . 718 
XYI. The American Civil War, a.d. 1861-1865 . 731 
XVII. Prussia and Austria, a.d. 1858-1866— The 

Franco-German War, a.d. 1870-1871 . 742 
XVIII. Turkey and Egypt, a.d. 1875-1898— The South 

African War, a.d. 1895-1902 . . .754 

Index of Persons . . . . . . , .767 

General Index . . . . . . . .791 

Index of Battles, Sieges, &c. ..... 795 



LIST OF MAPS 

I. The Ancient World . Between pages 36 and 37 

II. Alexander's Campaign . ,, ,, 166 ,, 167 

III. Imperium Romanum . . ,, 

IV. Europe, a.d. c. 500 . . ,, 

V. Europe in the Time of 

Charlemagne . . . ,, 

VI. Europe, a.d. c. 1200 . ,, 

VII. Europe in the Time of 

Charles V. . . . ,, 

VIII. Europe in the Time of 

Napoleon ,, 



GENEALOGICAL TABLES 

I. The Family of Augustus. 
II. The Garlovingians. 
III.-V. The English Royal House. 
VI.-VII. The Royal House of France. 
VIII. The Kin of Charles V. 

IX. The Spanish and Austrian Successions. 



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TABLE III 
THE ENGLISH ROYAL HOUSE 



William I. (The Conqueror) 
1066-87. 



Margaret, = Malcolm III., 

granddaughter of King of Scotland. 
Edmund Ironside. 



Robert of William II., Adela, 

Normandy. 1087-1100. m. Stephen, Count 

of Blois. 



Stephen , 
"35-54- 



Henry I. = Matilda. 
1100-35. 



William Clito. 



Henry. 



Edgar, 
1098-1107. 
Alexander, 
1107-1124. 

David, 
1124-1153. 



Emperor =(1) Matilda = (2) Godfrey of William, 

Henry V. or Maude. Anjou. drowned 1120. 



Henry II. = Eleanor of 
1154-89. Aquitaine. 



Geoffrey. 



Richard I. , 
1189-99. 



Joh?i, 
1199-1216. 



Arthur of Brittany. 



He?iry III. , 
1216-72. 



Richard, Earl 
of Cornwall. 



Edward I. , 
1272-1307. 



Edward II. , 
1307-27. 



Edmund, 
King of Sicily. 



Thomas, Earl 
of Lancaster. 



Henry, Earl of 
Lancaster. 



Edward III. 
1327-77. 



Henry, Duke of 
Lancaster. 



Blanche, m. John of 
Gaunt (see Table IV.) 



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A GENERAL HISTORY 
OF THE WORLD. 

CHAPTER I. 

EGYPT, TO THE TIME OF THE HYKSOS. FKOM THE 
EARLIEST TIMES TO 1580 B.C. 

The land of Egypt is the creation of the Nile, made and unmade 
every year by the inundation of the river. The country has 
had to be built up by increasing labour. The 
yearly rising of the Nile turned it into a huge th^N'/ 1 
lake in the morasses of which lived crocodiles, 
hippopotami, snakes and elephants, while lions and panthers 
came down to slake their thirst. Marshes have had to be 
formed into fruitful soil, roads to be built like causeways 
through the swamps, and this could only be effected by strict 
organisation under a vigorous government. The Egyptians 
became a peasant people under a rigid monarchical rule, which 
alone could unlock the sources of prosperity and make the 
valley of the Nile one of the most favoured spots on the surface 
of the globe. King Menes, who reigned about 3500 B.C., was 
regarded as the first of the Pharaohs, but civilisation preceded 
him by many centuries. The oldest settlements are to be 
found at the spot where the Nile comes nearest to the East, 
whence roads lead to the Red Sea, in Abydos and Memphis. 
The inhabitants dwelt in huts of reeds and palm branches, the 
richer in houses of sun-dried brick, surrounded by a mud wall : 
the dead were buried in round or square graves, huddled up as if 
asleep, surrounded by objects cherished in life and useful in 
the other world. We find in this period a gradually develop- 
ing beauty in the decoration of vases, and a close connection 

A 



2 A GENERAL HISTORY [to 1580 b.c. 

between the art of Egypt and the art of Crete. The difference 
in the richness of the decoration of the several objects shows a 
great difference in the wealth and position o f heir possessors, 
but at the same time the traditional char ?r or the ornamen- 
tation is strictly observed. The mass _ .^e people were sup- 
ported by agriculture and the breeding of animals. They 
possessed large flocks of sheep and goats, they had asses, but 
the horse was as yet unknown. More important than all was 
the breeding of cattle, which was the main peasant industry. 
Beer was brewed from grain and wine made from dates, linen 
and wool were worked, and mats were woven from papyrus. 
Even in the oldest times these operations were conducted, not 
by free labourers, but by serfs, in the possession of the great 
lords and especially the kings. The beginnings of Egyptian 
culture are lost in antiquity, and also the oldest forms of their 
political and social organisation, but in the earliest times we 
find the land divided into administrative districts each with its 
own capital, its own god and its own standard, kept together 
mainly by a religious tie. There was a strong division into 
Upper and Lower Egypt, the north and the south, with twenty 
districts or provinces in the first and twenty in the second, one 
distinguished by the lotus, the other by the papyrus. 

Among the multitudinous deities of early Egypt, two stand 

above the rest, the hostile brothers Seth and Hoi-us, one the 

god of darkness and destruction, the other of 

Religion 1 ^§ nt > having the sun and moon as his two eyes, 
sometimes worsted but never conquered. Seth 
was the divinity of Upper Egypt, with his seat at Ombos, Horus 
had his capital at Edfou, his symbol the sun's disc, with two 
mighty wings and the hanging snakes, the sign of sovereignty, 
born anew every day as he appears on the horizon. The wor- 
ship of Horus specially spread to Upper Egypt, and that of 
Seth predominated in the Delta. 

The foundation of the Egyptian religion is the worship of 
local gods, taken from the mass of deities of the spirit world 
by which the people are surrounded. They have their abode 
in animals of all kinds — cattle and geese, crocodiles and scor- 
pions, wolves and dogs and cats, the ibis, the vulture and the 
frog, also in trees, a worship closely connected with totemism. 
But above all there is the spirit, the ghost of the departed, who 
exists after death, and rules the living. Every god has two 
aspects, one the free will of an immortal spirit, the other bound 
up with natural objects, which can act and suffer, The double 



to 1580 b.c] EGYPT, TO TIME OF THE HYKSOS 3 

nature of the deity, partly spiritual and partly material, on 
the one hand reigning for ever in heaven, on the other buried 
with all activit 'n the earth, is the keynote of early Egyptian 
religion, which ort 'ved this characteristic to the latest times. 
Divine worship e8iA» Isshed an indissoluble connection between 
god and man, involving natural obligations and necessary to 
the existence of both. The god gave protection to the com- 
munity, and received in return all that he required — bread, 
meat, milk, wine, clothes, ornaments, flowers, and incense, as 
we read in their service books, all good and pure things which 
are laid upon the altar, " from which the god lives." Hence 
arose a ritual and a multitude of priests, formed into four 
tribes. The gods had to be propitiated with sacrifices and 
magical rites, the worship took a sombre tone, the early gods I 
were little better than malevolent devils. 

Egyptian records give us the gods as the earliest rulers of the 
country, and then kings, the sons of gods. Government first 
develops in Lower Egypt, at Heliopolis at the head of the 
Delta, and Busiris in the middle of it. Here is born Osiris, son 
of the earth god Geb and the heaven goddess Nut. His sister 
and wife is Isis, mother of Horus. Seth is the brother of Horus, 
and succeeds him as king. 

The calendar was of great importance for religious worship. 
It was a moon calendar, consisting of alternate months of twenty- 
nine and thirty days. To make things right, the 
year had to consist sometimes of twelve, sometimes if, 
of thirteen months. To remedy this, a sun 
calendar was introduced, the year consisting of three seasons, 
the inundation season from the middle of July to the middle of 
October, the winter or sowing season from the middle of October 
to the beginning of February, the summer or harvest season 
from February to June. For nine thousand years, the first 
rising of the Mle, from its lowest point in May, coincided with 
the first rising of Sirius in the early morning, fixed in the Julian 
Calendar as July 19, in the Gregorian as June 15. This was 
taken as the beginning of the new sun calendar, by which the 
year was divided into twelve equal months of thirty days, four 
for each season, five additional days being intercalated between 
the years. This was not correct, and it was found that Sirius 
rose every four years a day later in the year, and it required 
1461 years before the rising of Sirius returned to its proper J 
position. We find from this that the earliest certain date in 
the history of the world is the day on which the reformed sun 



4 A GENERAL HISTORY [to 15S0 b.c. 

calendar was introduced into Lower Egypt — that is, July 19, 
4241 B.C., or according to the Gregorian reckoning June 15. 

The last dynasty recorded before Menes bears the name of 
the worshippers of Horus. They reigned over both king- 
doms, the north and the south, divided at Akanthus. Both 
sections of the kingdom worshipped Horus, who thus became 
the oldest national deity of Egypt, his cult starting' from Edfou 
and gradually dispossessing the cult of Seth in Upper Egypt. 
Horus is no longer the son of Osiris and Isis, but has become the 
sun-god, and is united with Seth in a common divinity. The 
records of these early times raise the question of the relations 
between Egypt and Babylonia, as we find in the earliest art of 
Egypt representations of hunting scenes similar to the Baby- 
lonian, similar writing in their hieroglyphics, and similar figures 
of winged griffons and lions with snake necks. It is certain 
that the two civilisations were connected, it is uncertain which 
was the older, but it is more probable that Egypt derived her 
religion and art from Babylon than Babylon from Egypt, Egypt 
being through the whole of her history rather an imitative than 
a creative power. 

We now come to the hieroglyphics, the peculiar form of 

Egyptian writing. This early art of which we have spoken 

represents the forms of men and animals. In the 

, ier £." time of Menes, hieroglyphics are fully established 

and developed ; they must therefore have come 
into being during the time of the Horus worshippers. They are 
obviously abstractions from the delineation of animals and other 
common objects, and they are first found on the cylindrical seals 
used for the purpose of shaping earthen vases which are falsely 
considered as peculiar to Babylon. A deed of violence is repre- 
sented by the two legs of a walking man, strength by the figure 
of a striking man. These signs also stand for words of similar 
sound ; the same sign signifies goose and son, the same lute and 
good. In this way symbolical drawing developed first into a 
dictionary of useful words, then into a syllabary, and then into 
an alphabet. This eventually consisted of twenty-four con- 
sonants, the vowels, as in Hebrew and other Semitic languages, 
being left to be added by the speaker according to certain con- 
ventional rules. The alphabet was, however, always helped out 
by hieroglyphics. 

The Egyptians were firm believers in the immortality of the 
soul, and the funeral ceremonies which expressed this belief 
have their roots in the time of the Horus worshippers and 



toI^Ob.c] EGYIT, TO TJME OF THE HYKPOS 5 

lasted for more than three thousand years. The soul wandered 
in the lovely paradise of Jaru, with its fruitful cornfields, its 
copious rivers, its shaded avenues, while the spirit 
lingered near the place of the body's burial, long- Ritet^ 
ing to resume its lost activity, to eat, to drink, and 
to enjoy. The king had an immortality of his own : a god when 
alive, the gates of heaven were open to him after death, and he 
shone there as a star among stars, but he was subject to the 
jealousy and treachery of the deities of hell, and against them 
his burial rites must protect him. Osiris perished under the 
villainy of Seth, but he lived again in his son Horus, and with 
his help triumphed over his enemies. Each king, as he died, 
followed a similar course, and passed from death to a glorious 
resurrection. The elaborate ceremonies which typified this 
change are preserved in the Book of the Dead, and the ritual 
first intended for the kings was afterwards transferred to the 
common people ; but it is remarkable that these rites, which had 
their chief seat in Lower Egypt, are best preserved for us in the 
documents of the south. 

The two first dynasties, which lasted from 3300 to 2900 B.C., 
had their origin in This in Upper Egypt, and are known as the 
Thinite dynasties. Of these kings, Menes is the The Thinite 
greatest, and is supposed to have united the two Dynasties 
empires of north and south, and to have placed — Menes. 
upon his head the red and the white crowns which typified this 
sovereignty. But others may have done this before him, 
especially his predecessor, Narmer. This is now an obscure 
village, but the burial-place of the first dynasty lies in Abydos, 
a city well known to travellers, while Menes himself is interred 
at Negade. The reign of Menes and the founding of the new 
empire may be dated as 3315 B.C. His records, inscribed on 
ivory plates, show that he was a great conqueror. He not only 
ruled over Egypt, but extended his conquests to the south and 
the north-west. We find, strangely enough, indications that 
these early kings, holding a double sovereignty and a double 
deification, had also a double burying-place, one in Memphis 
and one in Abydos. 

The list of the successors of Menes is uncertain. His son 
was apparently named Atoti. Then comes Ghent, who gave to 
the hieroglyphics the form which they afterwards retained. 
Then follows Zet, but all authorities are agreed that the fifth 
king was Usaphais, with the Horus name of Ten. We need 
not follow out the bewildering catalogue of these monarchs with 



6 A GENERAL HISTORY [to loso b.c. 

distracting names, who ruled Egypt for the four hundred years 
from 3300 to 2900, during which time, sovereigns from This sat 
upon the throne of Horus. There are few monuments left to 
relate their history, but we have abundant evidence of the 
condition of their civilisation. The characteristics of the art 
and the government founded by them remained unchanged to 
the end. But there was no stagnation — on the contrary, a 
vigorous life. Archaic dress and habits lingered long among 
the common people, but in the higher classes there was con- 
tinual progress, beginning with the sovereign and coming down 
to the aristocracy. We learn this from the graves which still 
exist, the most important of which is that of King Menes in 
Negade, an independent building surrounded by a massive wall. 
After Menes their graves are covered with inscriptions, so as 
to make the name of the dead live after his decease. The 
inscription of a king's name secured him immortality. 

Egypt under the Thinites was essentially a kingdom. The 

sovereign had the double title of Horus and King of the two 

countries. Court ceremonial was fully developed. 

K-fneshin "^" e was an i ncarna ti° n of Horus — indeed of Horus 
and Seth — and was represented as the lion-tailed 
sphinx, who tore the people with his claws. He was a living 
god in human form, who lived on an equality with the gods. 
He was lord of life and death. His name was never spoken ; 
in its place we find Pharaoh, the Great House, like the Sublime 
Porte. But, although a god, he has strict and definite duties to 
his subjects. He is surrounded by ritual like the Doge of 
Venice. In the festival of Set, which was celebrated twenty- 
five years after his accession, he mounts a lofty platform on 
which two thrones are placed, where he is crowned with the 
two crowns, white and red, the shepherd's crook and the scourge 
in his hands, clad in the shirt tunic of ancient times. There 
are many other festivals too numerous to describe. Each king 
built for himself a new capital, like Mogul sovereigns of India, 
a walled town with his palace in the centre. It was begun four 
years after his accession, and another was built four years after 
the festival of Set. There was an elaborate bureaucratic govern- 
ment, known to us chiefly by its seals, but its organisation is 
still obscure. Law was highly developed, and was certainly 
written. Annals were carefully preserved. A full account of 
all property in land and gold was kept by scribes to form a 
basis of taxation. Even the Thinites' art made great progress ; 
stone was superseded by copper. Gold and precious stones 



to 1580 b.c] EGYPT, TO TIME OF THE HYKSOS 7 

became common. There was an elaborate calendar, a minute 
study of the stars : the arts of reckoning and measuring were 
highly developed, also the practice of medicine. The Egyptians 
were surrounded by powerful neighbours, Libyans, Troglodytes, 
Nomads, Nubians. Crete— was well known to them, as were 
Cyprus, and Byblos on the coast of Lebanon. Incense, so much 
used by them in worship, came from Punt, now Somaliland. 
But the greatest of all their rivals was the mighty Babylon, 
which possessed a culture not inferior, perhaps superior, to their 
own. 

The history of Egypt after the Thinite kings, the worshippers 
of Horus, is divided into three empires — the Old Empire lasting 
from 2900 to 2000 B.C. and comprising nine 
dynasties ; the Middle Empire extending from Emrrires 66 
2000 B.C. to 1580 B.C., containing five dynasties; 
and the New Empire, lasting from 1580 B.C. to 1090 B.C., con- 
taining four dynasties and representing the high-water mark 
of Egyptian power. As This was the seat of the first two 
dynasties, so Memphis was of the third. The great monarch 
of the third dynasty was the mighty Zoser, who 
raised Egypt to a high standard of power and * "r 
culture. He incorporated Nubia into his kingdom, 
and is known as the builder of the step pyramid of Sakkara, 
which he apparently erected for his own sepulchre. He reigned 
for nineteen years, and was succeeded by Zoser II., who reigned 
for six years, but of whom we have no records. The last king 
of the third dynasty was Huni, who probably built the great 
pyramid of Bashur. 

The first king of the fourth dynasty, which extended from 
2850 to 2700 B.C. was Snofru, who built the pyramid of Medun, 
known by the Arabs as the false pyramid. Here ip^g jy^ 

he placed his residence, and here was erected a Dynasty 

mighty temple for his worship after death. The Pyra- 
Greater than Snofru was Cheops, with Chephren mids. 
and Mycerinus, the builder of the great Pyramids of Gizeh, 
which are known to all the world, travelled and untravelled, as 
"The Pyramids" par excellence. His residence was in Gizeh, 
separated from Cairo by the Nile. His pyramid, the largest 
building in the world, contains three grave chambers, in the 
uppermost of which he is buried. Close by is his temple and 
three smaller pyramids for the officers of his court. He reigned 
for twenty-three years, and was succeeded by Tetepe, who lived 
at Abu Roos, and in the eight years of his rule had not time 



8 A GENERAL HISTORY [to 158u b.c. 

to finish his pyramid. His son and successor Chephren returned 
to Gizeh, and, like his son Mycerinus, built a pyramid inferior 
in size to his father's. In the temple of Chephren were found 
nine statues of the king in granite, diorite, basalt, and alabas- 
ter. The temple of Mycerinus was begun in granite, but hastily 
finished in limestone and brick. The Sphinx, carved out of 
the living rock, belongs also to this period. Mycerinus was 
succeeded by four kings of whom we know little. The whole 
dynasty lasted about 160 years. 

In the fourth dynasty, the whole government is concentrated 
in the person of the " Great God," as Pharaoh is called, and 
Govern- the efforts of the community are devoted to 

ment of the securing his worship both now and for all 
Pharaohs. eternity. His residence once chosen, his temple 
and his pyramid are built and his cult secured by a numerous 
priesthood. The tombs become gradually richer. The dead 
body being secured from decay by embalming, pains are taken 
to provide for its sustenance. Besides the statue and the 
pyramid, there is a mastaba or quadrangular fortress for the 
use of the departed. The walls of both are painted with the 
annals of the dead man's life. Every expedient is adopted to 
make the short human life eternal. All this apparatus of dead 
worship is confined to the limits of the Pharaoh's court, extending, 
however, sometimes to an enormous distance, the centralisation 
of the cult following the centralisation of political authority. 
The will of the king is all powerful. He has under him a 
chief minister, the interpreter of his divine purposes. His 
seal-bearer was at first a member of the royal family, then the 
office became hereditary in a certain clan, and was, at last, 
thrown open. Besides, there are a commander-in-chief and a 
master of the works. The state officials are educated partly at 
court, partly in the temples. The allotment of their offices is 
known, but it would take too long to enumerate them — they 
were generally hereditary. 

The king's revenue was derived partly from his domain, 
partly from taxes paid in money and kind. Accounts were 
made up every other year. Gold and copper were used for 
purposes of exchange, but barter was the usual practice. As in 
the Germany of the Middle Ages, the king could give away his 
land or lease it for a season. Eventually land could be in- 
herited or sold, and of this we have numerous records. The 
great officials became in time great land-owners, and huge 
estates came into existence, with their armies of artisans and 



to 1580 B.c] EGYPT, TO TIME OF THE HYKSOS 9 

other workers. Most of the land belonged to temples, which 
were built in great numbers by the kings of the Old Empire. 
The great god Ptah owed his divinity to his being the deity of 
the capital. The pyramids and mastabas of Gizeh were built 
from his quarries, and the stones hewed and shaped by his 
vassals. The government of the Pharaohs, however absolute, 
preserved a patriarchal and benevolent character. Together 
with occasional harshness of punishment, humanity prevailed. 
Life was genez^ally happy, and family affection was the rule. 

During the fourth dynasty, the strivings of the race were 
limited by the idea of Pharaoh. Worship had the single object 
of prolonging the material comforts of earthly Religious 

existence : transcendental notions of a future life changes 

were entirely absent. But a religion so consti- The Vth 
tuted was only possible with a powerful sovereign ; Dynasty, 
a weak ruler would shatter the fabric, and this was what 
occurred. After lasting 140 years, the dynasty came to an end 
in 2540 B.C. The fifth dynasty continued the practice of 
worshipping the dead, and building pyramids, but religion began 
to assert itself, and the sun-god Ke, already the ruling deity 
of neighbouring races, began to receive reverence. Re took the 
place of Horns, and Egypt became the capital of the sun 
worshippers. The first king of the dynasty was Userkef, and 
after him the sovereigns all bore names which ended in Re. 
Pharaoh became regarded as the son of Re. The sanctuaries 
and pyramids of the fifth dynasty are to be found at Abusir. 
The sanctuary of the sun is found at Abu Gureb, where there 
was a mighty obelisk, two hundred feet in height, an altar of 
alabaster, and provision for the slaughtering of animal victims. 
But there is no image of the god, no house of god, nor temple, 
as the sun-god has no abode on earth, but shines for ever in the 
heavens. A covered passage leads from the town to the summit 
of the mound from which Pharaolijsaluted-tbe rising of the sun 
every day at daybreak. The temple, like its sister shrine of 
Bubka is the embodiment of a great idea. The new worship of 
Re brought a higher spirituality into the mind of the Egyptians. 
It also affected the position of the king. Pharaoh is no longer 
the companion or the partner of the god, but his son : he is no 
longer the great god, but the good god. The three centuries 
of the Old Empire were a time of peace, although the Sphinx of 
the fifth dynasty holds in her claws Libyans and the inhabitants 
of Asia and Punt. The decorations of the buildings show a 
number of battle scenes. The presence of warships shows 



i 



io A GENERAL HISTORY [to 1580 b.c. 

conflicts with Phoenicia and the Lebanon. Palestine and the 
Phoenician coast had become a dependency of Egypt. These 
struggles were continued under the sixth dynasty. The boun- 
daries of Egypt were extended towards the second cataract. 
Large supplies of gold, precious woods, and myrrh came from 
Somaliland. 

The high-water mark of the Old Empire is found in the fifth 
dynasty, which lasted from 2700 to 2540 B.C. The massive 

hugeness of the fourth dynasty is now decorated 
Science ^y refined ornament, the monoliths and imposts 

of granite are replaced by graceful columns. The 
carving of reliefs takes a new development, their light colouring, 
although light and shade are unknown, gives life and even 
humour to the figures. The large statues in which the spirit 
of the dead is supposed to reside are dignified and impressive. 
In smaller works, the ivory statue of Cheops stands pre-eminent. 
Imagination and realism are shown in the scribe of the Louvre 
and the statue of the court dwarf. Similar improvement is 
shown in the production of smaller artistic objects which already 
distinguished the Thinite period. The progress of science goes 
hand in hand with that of art. The mining of huge stone 
masses, the measuring of fields, the careful keeping of accounts, 
the practice of medicine, the so-called wisdom of the Egyptians, 
consisting mainly in the practice of magic, the elaboration of 
ritual with songs and rnusic, the inculcation of morality and 
etiquette, are all characteristic of this period. 

The fifth dynasty came to an end with King Unos : the 
founder of the sixth is Teli, but whether he acquired the throne 

by succession or usurpation, we do not know. 

The VH"h 

Dvnastv ^ e neec ^ n0 ^ record the names of his successors, 

but only mention that one of them, Pepi II., is 
said to have lived a hundred years and reigned ninety-four 
of that time, by far the longest reign in history. The old 
traditions still continued ; the worship of the dead still pre- 
vailed ; the monarch still began his pyramid at his succession, 
the seat of the kings after Pepi I. being fixed at Sakkara. 
Stately graves were accorded to the great officials. Those of 
the monarchs or rulers of provinces are found in every part 
of Egypt. We find their offices becoming gradually hereditary 
and independent ; as their power increased, that of the crown 
diminished. It is true that Pharaoh could still equally exercise 
his authority over the vizir and the numerous bureaucracy 
which were under him, but it became more nominal than real. 



to 1580 b.c] EGYPT, TO TIME OF THE HYKSOS n 

Yet the power of the empire over its subjects seemed iinim- 
paired. The mines of Sinai were still worked, ships sailed to 
Punt, intercourse with jSubia was active. There was war with 
the Bedouins of Palestine and Syria, amongst whom the 
Hebrews must be reckoned. In five campaigns the land of the 
Hinusi was wasted, their castles destroyed, the fig trees and 
vines cut down, their farms destroyed, many thousands slain, 
countless prisoners captured. We do not know whether this 
ended in the entire subjugation of Palestine. The long-lived 
Pepi II. is the last king of Egypt whose name is, for a long 
period, found in the inscriptions; Manetho, the historian of 
Egypt, closes the sixth dynasty with the name of the Queen 
Nilocris. 

The seventh dynasty is said to have reigned for seventy 
days, which probably implies an interregnum. The eighth 
dynasty, according to Manetho, lasted for 146 The Vllth. 
years. But our knowledge is very uncertain ; and VHIth 
what we do know is that the Old Empire is at an Dynasties, 
end about the year 2000 B.C., and the Middle Empire begins. 
It is easy to see that the authority of the Pharaoh who resided 
in Memphis had become a shadow. The unity of the king- 
dom still existed, but there were many conflicting claimants for 
the double crown, and the country had really broken up into 
a number of independent principalities. Further, the old 
lessees of the public land had now become proprietors. This 
season of trouble marked a decline in art. But it also marked 
the rising of a middle class, and we owe to it the numerous 
representations of the objects of daily household life which 
still exist. To this period belongs the Book of the Dead, the 
fullest account we have of the views of the Egyptians with 
regard to the relations of the present and the future life. We 
also see a fundamental change in the character of the Egyptian 
religion. The worship of the sun, begun at Heliopolis, and 
developed in the fifth dynasty, became more common, and 
resulted in the belief in one god. He is his own begetter 
and creator, and renews every day the mysterious operation. 
Every day the sun- child appeal's on the horizon and grows to 
a strong man, who begets himself again in union with his 
mother, the goddess of heaven, the great cow. He is the 
creater and awakener of all life, he forms and rules the world. 
All other deities are mere names, or are servants and assistants 
of the one. This is the sun monotheism of the Egyptian 
religion, pursued as a sacred mystery by the higher priesthood, 



12 A GENERAL HISTORY [to loso e.g. 

and gradually disseminated through the country. No doubt 
the new learning greatly increased the influence of the priests. 
According to Manetho, the eighth dynasty is followed by two 
dynasties, the ninth and the tenth, consisting of nineteen 
kings, reigning at Herakleopolis, lying south, at the entrance 
The IXth °f the Fayum. Their founder was said to be 
and Xth Achtoi, worse than all his predecessors, who 

Dynasties. eventually became mad, and was killed by a 
crocodile. This, however, is all uncertain. To this period 
belong the graves of the nomarchs and high priests of Assiut. 
We learn much about the condition of affairs from the in- 
scriptions of the first of them, Achtoi, who was brought up 
at Herakleopolis, and learnt to swim with the king's children, 
while his mother administered the district. He governed 
Assiut well as nomarch, and was faithful to his sovereign, 
who reigned over the whole of Egypt. But he possessed both 
an army and a navy. Under his successor the army played 
an important part, armed with long lances with copper points 
and wooden shields, covered with skin. There was also a royal 
guard of dwarfish negroes, armed with bows and flint-pointed 
arrows, wearing nothing but a loin cloth. During this time 
Thebes bad risen to importance, and its sovereigns were 
regarded as the two Pharaohs. Thus the ancient Empire came 
to an end, losing itself like its own river in the sand. 

Karnak was the seat of the worship of Amon, the deity of 

generation, and, for unknown reasons, received from the Greeks 

the name of Thebes, the city of the hundred 

E e ■ * e gates. During the sixth and following dynasties, 

this district, which extended on both sides of the 

river, was in possession of a family, bearing alternately the 

names of Antef and Mentuhotep, which acquired great power 

and threw off the supremacy of the Pharaohs of Herakleopolis. 

The Xlth Here ruled the twelfth dynasty, which lasted 

and Xllth from about 2000 to 1788 B.C. The successors of 

Dynasties. these Antefs and Mentuhoteps, who founded 

what is called the eleventh dynasty, are not worth examining 

in detail. We know also little about the inner character of 

their rule. The first king of the twelfth dynasty was 

Amenemhet L, who won the crown not without a struggle. 

We know how he subdued his enemies with a fleet of twenty 

cedar ships. He was also subject to treacherous attacks, and 

with difficulty escaped being murdered. For the purposes of 

better government he fixed his residence at Lisht, at the 



to 1580 B.c] EGYPT, TO TIME OF THE HYKSOS 13 

frontier of the two countries, although he and his successors 
never forgot their attachment to Thebes. After the attempt 
on his life, he shared the government with his son, Sesostris I., 
who carried on wars whilst his father attended to the domestic 
affairs of the kingdom. Sesostris was in the field against the 
Libyans when his father died on February 3, 1971, and 
hastened immediately to the capital. But he succeeded to a 
troubled inheritance. 

Under Amenemhet and Sesostris, the power of the feudal 
nobility was by no means destroyed, nor was their hereditary 
character impaired, but the authority of the king Govern- 
over them was firmly established. Years were mental 
reckoned by the names of the sovereigns, and not changes, 
by those of the local governors. The government assumed the 
form of a feudal monarchy, very rich and prosperous, full of 
political and private life. The country was divided into three 
great provinces, North Egypt, comprising the Delta, Middle 
Egypt, and South Egypt. The authority of the king gradually 
became more despotic. Under Sesostris III. (1887 to 1853) 
the power of the nomarchs became gradually less, and the con- 
dition of the nobles was entirely changed under this monarch 
and his successor, Amenemhet III. The country was governed, 
as in the Old Empire, by a large bureaucracy. Under them were 
countless categories of artisans who were fed in the royal palace. 
Accounts were carefully kept, and money of the time is still 
preserved. The king was supported by a large standing army, 
and he always had with him a numerous personal following, whose 
bravery in war he rewarded by the gift of precious arms, or 
gold ornaments, or by promotion to the office of general. Yet 
the kings, the sons of Re, eventually retained only a power as 
limited as the Pharaohs of the Old Empire. At the same time 
they were differently regarded from Snofru and Cheops. It was 
no longer considered the duty of the country to build for each 
a huge pyramid sepulchre. The interest of the country was 
put first, and good government was the chief consideration. It 
was best served by the authority of the king as the head of 
the state, but his power was undoubtedly limited. 

The kings of the twelfth dynasty did their best to recover 
the position which had been held by the ancient Pharaohs, 
and they strove like the German Emperors to 
be not only guardians, but increasers of the ^{JJSJJ* 
empire. They fought against the Libyans and 
the Nubians. Sesostris the First boasted to have reached the 



14 A GENERAL HISTORY [to isso e.g. 

end of the world — that is, the second cataract at Wady Haifa. 
Sesostris III. went beyond this, and attacked the Troglodytes. 
The conquest of Punt (Somaliland), which had been begun by 
the eleventh dynasty, was continued by the twelfth. From this 
they brought myrrh, oil, panther skins, apes, ivory, and other 
precious things. The mines of Sinai were carefully worked, 
and the Bedouins kept in order. The authority of the Pharaohs 
also extended to Syria, and they imported cedar wood from 
Byblos. Palestine was attacked, and we hear of the reduction 
of Sichem. We find that relations existed with Crete, the 
Cyclades, and Cyprus. The scarabaeus form of seal began to 
make its appearance at this time in place of the old cylinder. 

The twelfth dynasty had a very energetic character, derived 

from their founder. Sesostris III. was, apparently, a great 

_, .... warrior, his successor, Amenemhet III., a great 

builder. He enjoyed the possession of a power- 
ful and well ordered kingdom — a Solomon after a David. The 
dynasty built the Ptah temple at Memphis, the Amon temple at 
Karnak, the Hathor temple at Dendera, the mighty Labyrinth, 
and erected the obelisk of Heliopolis, the Osiris temple at Abydos, 
the temple of Hershef at Herakleopolis. Their names and 
statues are found all over the Delta. The pyramids of the 
first two kings of the dynasty are found at Lisht, others at 
Dashur and in the Fayum, which became their residence and 
owes its cultivation to them. Lake Moeris was used for the 
regulation of the Nile. 

The Middle Empire was as much distinguished in art and 
literature as it was in the power of its government. The 

Labyrinth is due to this period. Sculpture made 
L^fc ai t e g rea t progress, and began to take the forms of 

realistic protraiture. Painting was used in wall 
decoration, and jewelry became very beautiful and refined. A 
copious literature of the age is left to vis, written in a classical 
style. But these works, admirable as literature, are not so 
useful for history. We find treatises on Medicine, Geometry 
and Arithmetic, religious hymns and services for the dead. 
Philosophy and Theology are well represented, and the great 
problems of human existence form the subject of prose and 
poetry. Speculations on the mystery of the world, which, 
arising in Egypt, were transferred to Greece, have their origin 
in the Middle Empire. We find also prophecies on the future of 
Egypt, of impending catastrophes, after the style of the Hebrew 
prophets, but the spiritual and moral elements are sadly wanting. 



to 1580 b.c] EGYPT, TO TIME OF THE HYKSOS 15 

The troubles of the thirteenth dynasty and of the Hyksos begin 
to cast their shadows. 

The brilliant period of the twelfth dynasty came to an end 
with the close of the long reign of Amenemhet III., which lasted 
from 1849 to 1801. His son, Amenemhet IV., The XHIth 
reigned only nine years, and was succeeded by to the 
his sister Sebeknofrure, who occupied the throne XVIIth 
from 1791 to 1788. We do not know whether Dynasty, 
the sovereigns of the thirteenth dynasty obtained the crown by 
marriage or by usurpation, but, thirteen in number, they only 
reigned for a short pei^iod. Their names are almost unknown, 
and their united reigns only number twenty-five years, 1785 to 
1760. After them follow a number of kings, most of whom 
were probably usurpers ; amongst them the name Sebekhotep is 
very common. They were real or nominal sovereigns of the 
whole of Egypt, and we may attribute to them a period of about 
fifty years from 1760 to 1710. To them succeed a number of 
sovereigns, apparently thirty-four in number, to whom we may 
allot another fifty years from 1710 to 1660. Then follows the 
fourteenth dynasty, from Xois, in the north of the Middle Delta. 
Twenty-one names of them are preserved, and it is possible that 
their power did not extend over Upper Egypt, but that they 
ruled in the Western Delta as vassals of the Hyksos, whom we 
shall mention presently, who were settled in the Eastern. 
Although they fill up several of what are called dynasties, their 
rule was ephemeral, and we may say of them what Hallam says 
of the last Merovingians, " Non ragionam di lor, ma guarda e 
passa " (" Let us not reck of them : look and pass by "). 

The natural result of this anarchy was the invasion of a 
foreign power, which is thus described by Manetho : " For reasons 
which I do not know, the deity became angry with 
us ; people from the east invaded Egypt, and be- J nva ^ ion ° f 
came masters of it. They conquered its guards, 
burnt its towns, destroyed the temples of the gods, and treated 
the inhabitants cruelly, killing some and enslaving others. At 
length they made Salitis their king. He came to Memphis, 
exacted tribute from Upper and Lower Egypt, and established 
garrisons in the towns, securing himself specially towards the 
east, in fear of an Assyrian invasion." Manetho then tells us 
that Salitis reigned for nineteen years, and that his people were 
called Hyksos— that is, shepherd kings. It is probable that the 
power of these kings lay in the north, and that native princes 
still continued to rule with precarious authority in the south. 



16 A GENERAL HISTORY [to isso b.c. 

The Hyksos are elsewhere described as Syrian Semites, that 
is Canaanites ; but it is possible that they were Hittites, who 
came from Asia Minor and overran Syria and Egypt, connected 
with the invaders who destroyed the Babylonian empire in 
1760. Many Semites were mixed up with them, as some of 
their kings bear Semite names and some not. The conquerors 
brought with them a national god, called by the Egyptians Seth, 
who is identified with the Canaanitish Baal. Although there 
is great divergence in our authorities, we may reckon that the 
dominion of the Hyksos lasted about a hundred years — that is, 
from 1680 to 1580 B.C. The best known of the Hyksos kings 
is Chian, who reigned over the whole of Egypt. He resided at 
Auaris, near Lake Menzala, and his power probably extended 
over Syria and Asia Minor. It is possible that Hebron Avas one 
of the principal fortresses for the subjugation of Palestine. 
Scarabs of Chian have been found in Gezer, and traces of him 
in Bagdad, Babylon, and Crete. 

The rule of the Hyksos had little effect on Egyptian culture. 
Native kings continued to reign as their vassals down to the 
seventeenth dynasty. At length a successful rebellion was 
organised against them, of which the centre was Thebes, which 
may be dated about 1590 B.C., and which led to the restoration 
of the Pharaohs. The scattered rulers of Upper Egypt 
clustered round Thebes, and the expulsion of the Hyksos is 
reckoned as the work of the eighteenth dynasty, who raised the 
power and splendour of Egypt to a height never before attained. 
The history of Egypt is from this time involved in the history 
of the other parts of the ancient world, the most notable of 
which was Babylon, and to this we must now direct our 
attention. 









l, 




CHAPTER II. 

BABYLON AND ASSYRIA FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO 
c. 1750 B.C. 

A little below the point where the two rivers Euphrates and 
Tigris approach each other in their course, is the territory of 
the ancient Ktesiphon and the modern Bagdad. The Euph- 
They enter upon a broad plain which owes its rates and 
origin to the alluvial soil of both rivers. The tiie Tigris. 
Euphrates, which is the higher of the two streams, sends 
numerous branches and canals into the lower-lying Tigris 
which irrigate the country. In the cold and rainless winter 
season the water is low and the canals nearly dry, but the 
Tigris begins to rise in March and the Euphrates in April, 
so that in June and July, after the melting of the snow in 
the Armenian mountains, the plain becomes a huge lake, like 
the soil of Egypt two months later. The consequence of this 
is that the whole district becomes intensely fertile, even more 
so than Egypt. But to render this useful requires a large 
expenditure of human labour. The river left to itself would, 
partly by haste and partly by stagnation, do more harm than' 
good, so that dykes must be made and carefully attended to 
and injury prevented. This needs a str^gj^vjrnjnjsnt ; anc ^ ' 
when this has been presentTSabyloii has prospered. In the 
course of time, large additions have been made to the ex- 
tent of the soil. The two rivers have united to form the 
Satt-el-Arab, which also receives the waters of the Choaspes 
and Euleus. The Tigris and the Euphrates have both altered 
their course : the level of the soil has been raised, and the 
course of the rivers lengthened. All these circumstances 
have been intensified by the neglect of the Mohammedans; so 
that the once flourishing country of Nebuchadnezzar and the 
Chalifs is scarcely to be recognised. Its ancient cities are 
represented by heaps of rubbish rising like islands in a barren 
waste. The increase of stagnant pools, desert soil, and the 
devastation of the Bedouins have gradually completed the 

17 B 



18 A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. 1750 b.c. 

destruction. Still it would be a mistake to suppose that the 
whole of the low-lying territory was in ancient times a land 
flowing with milk and honey. The plains of Sinear, of which 
Babylon is the capital, were in these ages of very limited 
extent, certainly of smaller dimensions than the territory 
of Egypt. The chief towns lay at a small distance from each 
other. Under the successors of Alexander, a much larger 
extent of soil was brought under cultivation. 

The country afterwards called Babylonia was in ancient 
times called Sinear or Sangar, and was divided into two parts, 
Akkad in the north and Sumer in the south. 
Sumeria 6 The principal cities of Sumer were Eridu, Ur, 
Erech, Larsa, Nippur, Lagash, and Ummur. 
Those of Akkad were Kish, Opis, Sippar, Babylon, and Cutha. 
The Sumerians were a non-Semitic stock, probably Mongolians. 
There is little doubt that they were among the most ancient 
recipients of culture and religion, and if this be true, both 
material and spiritual civilisation began with a Mongolian 
race. Indeed we are tempted to assume that the world was 
first covered with a layer of Mongol culture, traces of which 
still remain in China and Thibet, in Finland and the Caucasus, 
perhaps even among the North American Indians, and which 
was afterwards destroyed — first by the Semites and then by 
the Aryans. These, however, are questions of controversy, 
and cannot be regarded as settled. The Akkadians 
Akkadians were undoubtedly Semitic. There is, however, 
no doubt that Akkadian civilisation was mainly 
derived from Sumeria, and that, particularly, cuneiform writing 
originated in the southern kingdom. Also the Sumerians 
were an older race, physically different from their neighbours. 
Their noses are small and pointed, their cheeks thin. They 
have a small mouth, finely modelled lips, a short but well 
formed chin, Mongol eyes and a low forehead. Besides cunei- 
form writing, they invented a sexagesimal system of numera- 
tion, which formed the i basis of all counting and measuring 
throughout the whole extent of Babylonia. 

It is difficult to establish a date for the beginning of civilisa- 
tion in Sinear, when the first dykes were built or the first canals 
Early In- dug- The inhabitants were certainly peasants : 
habitants of their principal victim of sacrifice was the goat, 
Sinear. their best gift from heaven, water. When the 

gods were angry the waters assumed the dimensions of a flood, 
and the inhabitants were all destroyed except the few who took 



to c. 1750 b.c] BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 19 

refuge in a ship and were saved upon a lofty mountain. There 
was no trace of the unity of social life : each settlement 
was constituted by itself. Their dwellings were made of mud 
compacted with sedge and straw. The houses of gods and 
nobles were constructed out of unburned bricks ; the art of 
burning bricks was discovered later. These constructions were 
easily carried away by rain or destroyed by fire. But the fallen 
villages gradually formed a solid foundation upon which new 
villages could be erected. The dead were buried in pots which 
were used over and over again. The rivers continually changed 
their courses and necessitated new arrangements. Metals and 
other objects which led to the amenity of existence were derived 
from foreign countries, and the necessity of this led to abundant 
foreign trade and commerce. Art was, in these early days, 
almost entirely absent, but the minds of the inhabitants were 
turned in upon themselves and their practical needs, and litera- 
ture and religion had their first beginnings. 

In the year 3000 B.C., the greater part of Sinear was un- 
doubtedly in the hands of the Sumerians. To what extent the 
population was Semitic, it is now impossible to 
say, but their dress does not show a Semitic char- pF?V: r1 ^ 
acter. The men were bald, the women wore long- 
hair, the dress was a loin cloth, the feet were bare, the priests 
in the presence of the god were entirely naked. The principal 
towns have been already mentioned. The chief deity of the 
Sumerians was Ellil, the Lord of Storms, who had his abode 
in the mountains. His wife was Ninlil, the goddess of genera- 
tion and fruitfulness. Ellil was the son of Ani, the father of the 
gods, who, in conjunction with Ellil, governed the world. Under 
these principal deities there was a copious Pantheon, and also 
a world of spirits who were not always distinguishable from the 
gods. Religion, however, played a far more important part in 
Babylonian life than in the Egypt of the Thinites or the 
Pharaohs of the Old Empire. The kings were favourites of the 
deity, and deities themselves. Religious observances dominated 
their whole life. The earliest Sumerian literature consisted 
largely of hymns. Every man, of whatever rank, was attended 
by a guardian angel who directed his destiny. Indeed it is 
probable that religion as we know it, the worship of an all-good 1 
and all-wise creator, began amongst the Sumerians, and was \ 
borrowed from them by the Egyptians and the Jews. 

One of the most important contributions of the Sumerians to 
civilisation was the invention of cuneiform writing, which 



20 A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. 1750 b.c. 

changed into a form of writing similar to our own, much 

quicker than the Egyptian or the Semitic. Even if Sumerian 

writing be<?an with hieroglyphics, they were soon 
Cuneiform . ° ° J r , J 

Writing- given up. However, the credit of recording 

human speech into a continuation of different 
sounds, each expressed by a single sign, must be given to the 
Egyptians. Still greater advances were made when the systems 
of Semitic and Babylonian writing were formed into one, and 
each brought to the other the elements needed for its develop- 
ment. We possess an enormous mass of Babylonian documents 
written on imperishable clay, concerning not only affairs of 
public importance but the minutest private concerns. Every one 
possessed a seal for his private^signature which was impressed 
by rubbing on soft clay. It is difficult to say what were the 
previous relations between Egyptian and Babylonian art. There 
are, indeed, two schools, one ascribing priority of culture to the 
Sumerians, the other to the Egyptians, and, until our researches 
in Babylonia are carried further than they are at present, it 
is hard to decide between them. But the productions of early 
Sumerian art are far inferior to the Egyptian, and they were 
soon surpassed by the advance of the Semitic Akkadians, 

In the earliest times of which we have record, Sinear was 
divided into small principalities. The head of each bore the 
Early title Lugal, signifying king or lord, but generally 

Sumerian also the title Patesi, that is, viceroy, Avhich im- 
History. plies that they were not independent, but were 

regents for the local god, the word, indeed, perhaps originally 
signifying servant. There was also an over-king called Lugal 
Kalama, the king of the country, connected with the national 
god Ellil, whose seat was at Nippur. This was the religious 
capital, but the civil capital was Kish, situated in northern 
Sinear on the right bank of the Tigris. Another town, farther 
to the north, was Opis, and these two cities seem to have 
been the advanced posts of the Sumerians, from which they 
carried on a continual struggle with the Semites. The earliest 
known king of Kish is Mesilim, who lived about 2810 B.C. 
Another very important town has been found under the 
rubbish mound of Tello, bearing the name of Lagash. It was 
situated in the south of Sinear, on a broad stream composed 
both of the Tigris and of the Euphrates, and not far from the 
sea. It reached its summit of prosperity as one of the most 
important towns of the country under Gudea, about 2400 B.C., 
but at the beginning of the following millenary had entirely 



To C .a750 B .c] BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 21 

fallen. This, indeed, coincides with the fall of the Sumerian 
power. The earliest known king of Lagash dates from about 
2800 B.C. 

Another important town is Gischu, north-east of Tello. 
Lagash and Gischu were constantly at war with each other, and 
the frontier between them was settled by King Mesilim of 
Nippur. Gischu was, however, eventually conquered and 
plundered by Lagash and Uruk (Erech). Ur and other cities 
suffered the same fate. There were also wars with the neigh- 
bouring countries. The Elamites invaded the territory of 
Lagash and plundered it. We need not weary the memory of 
our readers with the outlandish names of these early kings. A 
king of Lagash called Eannatum, with the help of the goddess 
Ningirsu, raised Lagash to a position of predominance. Still 
more powerful was Lugulzaggisi of Gischu, who overthrew the 
power of Lagash in 2575 B.C. He became king of the whole of 
Sinear, and his inscriptions tell us that he conquered from 
sunrise to sunset, that Ellil made the way smooth for him from 
the Lower Sea of the Tigris and Euphrates to the Upper Sea. 
Without doubt, Lugalzaggisi fused the Sumerians into a powerful 
nation, which, however, was not long able to withstand the 
onslaught of the Semites. 

The Semites had reached a high degree of civilisation. They 
had borrowed their writing from the Sumerians, but had greatly 
improved it. They showed themselves also de- 
cidedly superior in art. Their principal seat „..,.*? 

"iii .li • .l i ii -n -i Civilisation, 

seems to have been the point where the Euphrates 

enters the marshlands and sends its first canals into the Tigris. 
Here lies the city of Akkad, also written Agade. Close by this 
was Sippara, the seat of the sun-god, Shamash, whom the 
Akkadians revered. There was also a goddess, Ishtur or Astarte, 
also called Anunit. There was also a moon-god Sin ; and, Babel, 
the Gate of God, was the seat of a local god, Marduk. The 
Semites of Akkad were distinguishable from the Sumerians by 
having long hair in carefully curled ringlets, and a well tended 
beard. The Sumerians had the upper part of their body naked, 
the Semites a short coat confined by a girdle, and sometimes a 
plaid fastened on the left shoulder so as to leave the right 
shoulder free. They also wore sandals. The symbols of royal 
authority were the sceptre carved at the top, a club, and arm 
rings. The Sumerians fought in a close phalanx, the Semites in 
open order, the principal weapon being the bow. They had also 
a spear to throw, and an axe, and, like the Sumerians, a helmet. 



2± A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. \im b.c. 

Their battles consisted of single combats such as are described 

in the Homeric poems. 

There were other Semites settled in the country besides the 

Akkadians. The general name for the Semitic tribes of 

Mesopotamia was Subari : they lived chiefly in small towns 

situated on fertile oases on the banks of the Euphrates and the 

Chaboras, ruled by petty chiefs. One horde of the Subari was 

formed by the Assyrians, who lived west of the 

. e ssy " Tigris between the two Zuls, and whose chief town 
nuns 

and ruling god bore the name of Assur. We do 

not find their name before 2100 B.C., but they probably existed 
before this. Charrae also, on the upper Belichos, 
was probably a Semitic settlement. It had been 
from long ages a seat of the worship of the moon-god, Sin, and 
the Assyrians took over the whole of the Pantheon of Sinear. 
In the middle of the third millenary, a new Semitic race makes 
its appearance under the name of Amorites, a 
Amorites Bedouin people originally settled in the Lebanon. 
They were distinguished from the Akkadians by 
cutting their hair short behind and shaving their lips. They 
seem to have spoken a kind of Hebrew. Their god was Hadad, 
who had thunder and lightning under his control and wielded a 
mighty hammer. They also had a god Amuru, who was after- 
wards identified with Hadad. The wife of Amuru was Ashrat, 
and they also worshipped Dagon, of whom we know little. The 
other Amorite god who played an important part both in Sinear 
and in Assyria was apparently called Ninib, but our knowledge 
of the language is so imperfect that we do not know how far he 
is to be identified with Hadad and Amuru, or how far the 
Sumerians may have altered his appellation. 

The supremacy of the Semites in Sinear was founded by 

King Sargon of Akkad, who lived about 2500 B.C. A number 

Con ests of legends have naturally attached themselves to 

of Sargon, his personality. It is said that his mother, after 

King of giving birth to him secretly, in the town of 

Akkad. Azurpiran on the Euphrates, placed him in a 

\ chest and laid him, like Moses, amongst the reeds of the river. 

We find similar tales about Krishna in India, about Perseus in 

Greece, and even about Romulus in Italy. We have no details 

of the war by which Sargon conquered Sinear, but we know 

that after this he subdued Elam, the Gutaeans, and the Subari. 

But his great exploit was the conquest of the Amorites, which 

gave him the title of " Lord of the Four Quarters of the World." 



to e. 1750 B.c] BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 23 

This shows that the power of the Amorites extended from the 
plains of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean. He also pene- 
trated to the "Land of the Setting Sun," and traces of his 
domination have been found in Cyprus. These campaigns took 
place at a time when the Pharaohs of the sixth dynasty were 
establishing their power in Palestine and Phoenicia. He had 
relations with them, but probably did not go to war with them. 
On the other hand, the connection formed by Sargon between 
Smear, the Amorites, and the Lebanon lasted a long time. 
The rulers of Sinear obtained stores and cedar wood for their 
buildings from the mountains of Lebanon. The Amorites took 
service under the Akkadians as mercenaries. Sargon also pene- 
trated into the country of the Hittites. We are informed by a 
chronicle that in his old age all the subject peoples rose against 
Sargon and besieged him in Akkad, but Sargon marched against 
them and conquered them and destroyed their great army. 

The son of Sargon was Naramsin (2470-2440 B.C.), who not 
only maintained but extended his father's empire. His chief 
exploit was the conquest of the land of Magan, 
whence came the valuable black stone diorite. As Narcunsin 
we do not know where diorite is to be found, 
we cannot tell for certain where Magan is, but it must have 
been on the sea-coast. The great palace of Sargon was in Akkad. 
Naramsin rebuilt the temple of Shamash in Sippara. Both 
kings erected the mighty temple at Nippur, the mountain 
house, built on a huge terrace and of burned bricks. Naramsin 
built in many other places, even in Babel. 

The Semites had now completely subdued the Sumerians and 
Sinear was now entirely Semitised. There is no doubt that the 
Semites introduced in some directions a higher culture, especi- 
ally in writing and architecture. The reign of 
Naramsin was a high-water mark of culture, and ond'culture 
we see that art had made great progress in truth 
and vivacity of expression since the reign of Sargon. His bas- 
reliefs are truly remarkable, and we see the same results in the 
seal-cylinders where the figure of the sun-god is represented 
as rising from the mountain, with the rays streaming from his 
shoulders. But the kingdom of Akkad was not of long duration. 
We do not know the names of any kings except Sargon and 
Naramsin, although some may have existed. We may assume 
that its fall came about through a recrudescence of Sumerian 
power, but ever after this Semitic culture prevailed in Sinear, 
and showed itself in the manners and even in the dress of 



24 A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. 1750 b.c. 

tlie later Sumerians. We know little of the political history 
of this time, except that the relations between the Amorites 
and Magan continued to exist. We also hear of two Semitic 
kings of Kish. After the fall of the power of Akkad, Sinear 
seems to have split up into small governments until the 
coming of Gudea of Lagash. This period of confusion probably 
lasted a hundred years, from 2440 to 2340 B.C. Gudea was 
probably a usurper, but he raised Lagash to a height of power 
unknown by any former state in Smear. He says that he 
reigned over 216,000 subjects, which indicates a period of peace. 
Sumerian art reached its highest level under Gudea. Diorite, the 
hard black stone from Magan, difficult to work, was freely used 
for sculpture in his time. We find also objects in metal and 
mother-of-pearl. It is doubtful whether Gudea was an inde- 
pendent sovereign, and he may have been a nominal vassal of 
the king of Akkad. 

A new Sumerian empire was founded by Urengur at Ur, a 

town situated on the Euphrates in the extreme south. At first 

he calls himself in his monuments the king of 

TheDynasty ^ a f terwar( j s the king warrior, the king of 

Sumer and Akkad. This shows that the Sumerians 

were again raised to a position of superiority over the Akkadians. 

There is no doubt that Urengur reigned over the whole of 

Smear, as his monuments are found in Ur, Uruk, Larsa, Lagash, 

and Nippur. He came to the throne in 2304, and reigned 

eighteen years. His son Dungi had a long reign of fifty-eight 

years, from 2286 to 2229. Urengur and Dungi remind us of 

Sargon and Naramsin. Dungi fought many wars, especially 

in the second half of his reign. The dynasty of Ur was 

synchronous with the rule of the Pharaohs of Herakleopolis. 

when the power of Egypt was at a low level. Dungi called 

himself king of the four divisions of the world : he assumed the 

status of a god, built a temple for himself, and gave the priest 

of it the title of Patesi. Three kings followed — Dungi, Pursin, 

Gimilsin and Ibisin, all three Semitic names derived from the 

god of Ur. Their reigns lasted about forty years, down to 2188. 

About this time, the empire of Ur, after existing for 117 

years, underwent a revolution, and the power was transferred to 

The King- I sin, the situation of which has not been accurately 

domsoflsin determined. The sovereigns of this dynasty did 

and Lassa. no t call themselves sovereigns of the four parts 

of the world, but contented themselves with the title of kings 

of Sumer and Akkad. It is possible that the dynasty of Isin 



*o c 1750 B.c] BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 25 

may have been Amorite, as the kings are named after Dagon. 
About the year 2150, a kingdom of Larsa came into existence, 
so that Sinear was divided into two parts. A powerful king 
was Pursin II., who reigned from 2065 to 2045. The kingdom 
of Larsa was finally destroyed by Hammurabi, king of Babel, in 
1928. 

The empire of Sumer and Akkad contains a century of splen- 
dour and two centuries of decline, with destructive invasions 
from outside. Indeed, all the states of Sinear seem to have had 
an ephemeral character, a contrast to the strong 
rule of the Pharaohs in Egypt, Unfortunately f„ g?J ^ e 
the monuments discovered give us but few details, 
and we find little but large temples with mighty courts. On 
the other hand, we have abundant records of the details of 
private social life. These are present in records of brick, far 
more durable than those of brass because there is no temptation 
to destroy them. The foundation of social order lies in the 
power of the king and his bureaucracy, but the family is strongly 
organised with patriarchal authority. Marriage is contracted 
by purchase ; the wife retains her own property, and claims a 
divorce if the husband behaves badly; but concubines are common, 
as is also the practice of adoption. Each settlement has its own 
deity. Large towns like Babel belong to a later period. The popu- 
lation is divided into possessors of property called " Sons of a man," 
comparable to patricians or hidalgos, and the " Poor," who have 
a different wergild. The law of retaliation prevails, but may 
be mitigated by money payments. We do not know whether the 
poor were in any respect serfs, but there were slaves in great 
abundance, recruited from the neighbouring tribes. There were 
also free labourers, who worked for money wages. There was 
a strong contrast between the court and the temple, the resi- 
dences of the king and of the god, resembling the cloister and the 
castle of the Middle Ages. The temples were the possessors of 
the greater part of the soil and of enormous wealth. They were 
also the great financiers and money lenders, and this is the 
reason why we find the records deposited with them. The chief 
productions of the soil were corn, oil, and dates, but we also find 
large herds of cattle. All mercantile transactions were fully 
developed : the usual interest charged for a loan was twenty per \ 
cent, per year. The standard of coinage was silver, but we do ' 
not know whence it came. Gold is also found, but copper, which 
had much value in Egypt, had here scarcely any. The silver 
was weighed by the sexagesimal system, the talent being sixty 



26 A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. 1750 e.g. 

minas, the mina sixty shekels, the shekel one hundred and 
eighty barley corns. The relation between gold and silver was 
probably thirteen and a half to one. The silver was kept either 
in bars or in wedges, as in Egypt. 

The deities which represented the great cosmical forces were 
objects of primary worship in Sumer and Akkad — Anu, the god 

of heaven, Ellil the god of earth, worshipped at 
Sinear° n "* Nippur, and Er, the god of the sea, worshipped 

at Eridu. Besides these were Sin, the god of 
the moon, worshipped in Ur, and Shamash, the god of the 
sun, worshipped in Sippara and Larsa. But eventually, above 
all, there arose Marduk, the god of Babel. We thus reverence, 
rising from the foundations of local worship to the main com- 
ponents of the world we live in, sky, earth, and sea ; then succeeds 
a raising of the spirit to the sun and moon, the rulers of 
the night and the day ; and then the worship of a supreme 
god above all these. It is still a matter of controversy which 
nation has the credit of raising the spirituality of worship to 
a higher level, the Mongol Sumerians, the Semitic Akkadians, 
or the Egyptians, and the decision found will depend much on 
the personal proclivities of the investigator. A Jew will natur- 
ally give priority to the Semite, an Egyptologist to the Egyp- 
tians, while others, unaffected by these influences, will form 
what is probably the right opinion, that, whereas the Jews and 
the Egyptians borrowed much from others, the Sumerians stood 
alone, and were the first to speak with God face to face and to 
recognise the government of the world by one all wise, all good, 
and all powerful divinity. 

We do not at present possess any literary remains coming 
direct from Sumer and Akkad, but it is probable that a number 

of Babylonian texts which exist as copies in the 
Literary library of Assurbanipal are derived from this 

At G THELITIS 

source. In their present state they came from 
Babel, and place Marduk in the foreground, but they show 
traces of an earlier origin. It is remarkable that the Sumerian 
language remained the sacred language in Sinear to the end, 
which shows that the earlier race cannot have possessed a very 
large religious literature. 

Undoubtedly w r e owe to this Babylonian source much of the 
magic of later times. Divination from the livers of animals 
was highly elaborated ; but this may have come not so much 
from superstition as from the close observation of a wandering 
people applied to matters which deeply affected their material 



to c. 17S0 s.c] BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 27 

welfare. Herodotus tells us that the Babylonians brought the 
sick into the market places, and asked passers by if they knew 
of any methods of cure, which, by Egyptologists, is . . 

contrasted with the elaborate science of the Egyp- 
tian doctors. But the judgment of the comparative value of 
these methods will depend on the view taken of the value of 
scientific medicine. We also find that divination from the 
sky had a great importance amongst the Sumerians, a habit 
which has again been ascribed to the necessities of a nomad 
life. At any rate we find amongst them the first astrology and 
the first astronomy. The constellations were first distinguished 
and named by them, and, if they believed in the influence which 
the heavens exercise over human life, it is no discredit to have 
erred by adopting a creed which is the keynote of the Divine 
Comedy of Dante. 

Religious ritual was in the hands of a numerous priesthood. 
Many hymns used in worship are preserved, and some of 
them breathe a high spirituality. The consciousness of the 
omnipotence of God and the powerless nature of all human 
action is fully apparent in them, as well as the conviction 
that the efforts of men towards virtuous action are useless 
without the assistance of divine power. We are also taught 
in them that the unmerited suffering of the innocent must 
be regarded as a spiritual trial and the way to the attainment 
of a higher spiritual life. The Sumerians were also great 
grammarians and lexicographers, owing to the fact that a 
knowledge of two languages was indispensable to a large 
number of people. They also attained great eminence in 
arithmetic, but we must not forget that they always had a 
sexagesimal system, and that the number sixty and its higher 
powers held the first place in their calculations. 

We have seen that the civilisation of Sinear had a great 
influence over neighbouring tribes. It extended in all directions, 
over northern Syria, over the plains of Mesopotamia, over 
the tribes on the Tigris, and in Elam. The netherlands where 
the united streams of the Euphrates deposit their alluvions 
became the spiritual centre of the whole district. On the 
farther side of the little Zab, on the right bank of the Tigris, 
is found the principality of Assur, of which we 
have already spoken. The name is connected 
with the Assher of the Jews, and the Ashera of the Amorites. 
Their princes were sometimes called patesis and sometimes 
kings : they also had priestly functions, but they never ceased 



28 A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. 1750 b.o. 

to be regarded as viceroys of their god Assur. They extended 
their authority from the Tigris to the marches of Arbela, 
and even beyond the great Zab and to Nineveh on the left- 
hand bank of the Tigris. The first ruler of Assyria is 
Thusuma, who founded the kingdom of Babel, to which the 
lords of Assur became eventually subjects. About the same 
time Elam, the ancient rival of Sinear, began to take a new 
development, as we learn from the excavations at Susa, and 
its princes assumed greater authority and power. In 2188, 
Ibisin, the last king of Ur, was taken prisoner by them, 
and they probably destroyed the temple of Nippur. But 
a far greater effect was produced by the invasion of the 
The Amo- Amorites. Starting from northern Syria, they 
rite Empire gradually extended their power to the south, 
of Babel. an( j about the year 2060 founded the empire 

of Babel. Fortunately documents exist which enable us to 
write their history. The first king, Samuabu, lived from 2060 
to 2047. But much more powerful was his successor Sumulailu, 
who established the authority of Babel and the worship of 
Marduk on a firm basis, reigning for thirty years, from 2046 
to 2011. He was succeeded by Sabu (2010 to 1997) and 
Apilsin (1996 to 1979), who built temples, dug canals, and 
restored wells. Then came Sinmuballit (1978 to 1959). We 
find in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis a record of this 
period ; where it is said that Ohedorlaomer, king of Elam, 
Arioch, king of Ellasar (probably Larsa), Amraphel (probably 
Hammurabi), king of Shinar (Sinear), and Tidal, king of 
nations (which is wrongly translated), ruled for twelve years 
over certain toibes of Palestine, including Sodom and Gomorrah, 
which had rebelled but been subdued. 

Of the two nations who were striving together for the 
crown of Sumer and Akkad, the Elamites of Larsa and the 
Amorites in Babel, the later named arrived at complete 
supremacy. The last empire we hear of before the final 
fall of Sumer and Akkad is that of Isin, whose rulers bear 
the titles of kings of Sumer and Akkad, and its greatest 
sovereign was Rimsin, who had the right to call himself king 
of Sumer and Akkad, after he had put an end to the kingdom 
of Uruk. Rimsin conquered Isin in the year 1962, and here 
the history of the ancient empire of Sumer and Akkad comes 
to an end, and that of Babel begins. 

The greatest king of Babel was Hammurabi, who reigned 
from 1958 to 1916. His successes begin even in the first 



to c. 1750 B.c] BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 29 

year of his reign. In 1952, his power was fully established, 
and soon after he could assume the title of king of Sumer 
and Akkad and of the four parts of the world. Hammurabi 
By 1919 he had entirely destroyed the power King of 
of Rimsin and had become undisputed lord of Babel. 
the whole of Sinear. He made many canals, temples, and 
fortifications, but his great work was the foundation of Babel, 
which now became the royal residence, the mistress of all 
those which had preceded it, with Marduk as its supreme 
god. It was characteristic of his statesmanship that he . did 
not destroy the local religions and deities, but gave them 
a place in the divine hierarchy under the authority of Marduk. 
The reign of Hammurabi, which lasted forty-two years, was 
coincident with a great change in the physical condition of 
the land of Sinear ; the alluvial soil was increased, the beds 
of the rivers were altered, they flowed more slowly over a 
leveller soil, marshes and lakes made their appearance, the 
desert grew. The energy of a great canal builder like 
Hammurabi might delay the destruction which this implied, 
but could not prevent it, and in the hands of less competent 
successors it advanced with hastier strides. Hammurabi and 
his house did not spring from the Akkadian Semites who 
had been long settled in the land, but from Bedouin invaders. 
He had a large nose, a long beard, his lips shaved, and his 
hair cut short, whereas the Akkadians wore their hair long. 
He and his dynasty were evidently Amorites. We do not 
know the exact extent of his realms. It is probable that 
he subdued Syria, but of this we have no certain evidence. 

We have many records of the reign of Hammurabi of very 
different kinds. They show us not only a high condition of 
culture, but a thoroughly well organised government. His 
correspondence with his high officials may be compared to that 
between Trajan and Pliny. It is clear that he took a personal 
interest in all the affairs of the kingdom. But the The Code of 
most important record of his reign lies in the Hammu- 
famous code, which is inscribed on a mass of ra ^i- 
diorite marble now in the British Museum. This was dis- 
covered in the year 1901, and has received great attention since 
from scholars of all nations. The king begins by saying how 
Anu Bel and Marduk, the supreme gods of Babylon, had called 
him to cause justice to prevail in the land and to destroy the 
wicked and the evil, and to prevent the strong from oppressing 
the weak, and he boasts that he has established law and justice 



30 A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. 1750 b.c. 

in the land and provided for the welfare of the people. The 
laws enacted are 248 in number, and may be divided into the 
following categories : penalties for false accusation, false witness, 
and wrong judgment ; laws relating to property, to land, to trade 
and commerce, to the law of the family, to criminal law, to 
navigation, to hire and wages, and to slavery. The character of 
the laws is clear and precise, but undoubtedly severe. A man 
is either guilty or innocent, wrong or right, and punished 
accordingly. There are no half lights or half judgments. 
Hammurabi stands undoubtedly as one of the great rulers of the 
world. His code has been compared with that of Moses, and 
they may be said to have a common origin. No code of this 
kind is an entirely independent creation. It is the product of 
the time, but receives the form which gives it authority from 
the genius of its composer. 

Hammurabi was succeeded by his son Samsuiluna, who 
reigned from 1915 to 1878, by Abeshu, 1877 to 1850; and two 
others who bring us down to 1792. The last king of the 
dynasty was Samsuditani, 1791 to 1761, under whom the empire 
of Babel came to an end, having lasted for exactly three 
hundred years after its first foundation by Sumuabu. 

It was destroyed by the Hittites, who came from the eastern 

part of Asia Minor, but our information about them is not 

complete. They had their abode in Chani in the 

The Hittite p i a j ns ar0U nd the Euphrates, and from this point 
Invasion. ■*- . 

plundered the country and made it tributary. 

They have been identified with the Hyksos, and this invasion 

of Sumeria may have been a prelude to the conquest of Egypt 

in 1750, but for further knowledge we must wait for more 

complete information. But this mighty invasion of the Hittites 

is only one aspect of a general migration of nations, which 

occurred at this time, moving from east to west. Indeed the 

distant regions of Thibet were at this time, and for many 

centuries later, filled with a barbarous population, which, like 

a human volcano, might at any time overflow and desolate 

the cultivated regions beyond them. There was the same 

reason for their incursion as for the later incursion of the 

Huns, which produced modern Europe. Among the advancing 

hordes the most powerful were the Aryans, who were the 

first to ride on horses, the chariots of Egypt and Babylon 

having been drawn by cattle and asses. Horses were indeed 

seen in Sinear about 1900, and their appearance gave a 

completely new character to the warfare of the East, but 



to c 1750 B.c] BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 31 

for some centuries they were used only in chariots and not for 
riding. 

To the north of the Semitic countries with which we have 
been dealing lay the mountain country of Asia Minor and 
Armenia. Their natural configuration had pre- . 
pared them for a different history. Asia Minor, 
surrounded on three sides by the sea, has always been a great land 
of passage, connected closely with the islands of the Aegean 
and the peninsula of Greece. It has no natural boundary 
towards the east, where it loses itself in the table-land of 
Armenia, itself penetrated by the Araxes and the Kyros as well 
as by the upper waters of the Tigris and Euphrates, and thus is, 
in spite of its difficult passes, connected with the outer world. 
The ethnography of this region is much confused, but it is by 
this path that the Aryans first penetrated into Europe. At that 
time, however, they had undoubtedly not yet developed their 
advanced type of culture as shown in Troy, Phrygia, and Cyprus. 
The most powerful people of Asia Minor in this early age were 
the Hittites, whom we have already mentioned. They overran 
Syria and Mesopotamia, destroyed Babel in 1760, and perhaps 
established themselves as Hyksos in Egypt. They also founded 
the kingdom of Milani on the Euphrates, which was afterwards 
destroyed by the Aryans. 

The empire of the Hittites rose to great power in the 
fifteenth century before Christ in the mountainous district to 
the east of the Halys, where the remains of 
their capital are still to be seen. It spread over E e • * 1 e 
Asia Minor and northern Syria, and long held its 
own successfully against the power of Egypt. But in the 
twelfth century it fell owing to a fresh movement in the great 
migration of the nations already spoken of. Hence the centre 
of gravity of the Hittite power was pushed towards the 
south, towards Taurus and Amasus and the north of Syria, 
where its fragments existed for a long time in small states, 
notably at Karkemish, close by the Euphrates. The Hittites 
have left many monuments behind them both in Asia Minor 
and in northern Syria, extending from the fifteenth to the 
eighth centuries before Christ, and even later. They used a 
hieroglyphic language of their own, but also employed the 
Babylonian cuneiform, so that their inscriptions are not difficult 
to read, and from these we learn that they were neither Indo- 
Qermanic nor Semitic. It is possible that their origin is to be 



32 A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. 1750 b.c. 

found in the Caucasus, some of whose tribes, of Iberian origin, 
now represented by the Georgians, spread over Asia Minor. 
Their religion was, without doubt, founded on the worship of 
the two great powers, mother earth and the sun, whose 
marriage was every year consummated and dissolved by the 
course of the seasons. This religion reveals itself in the well- 
known story of Attis, in Crete also where it is connected with 
the birth of Zeus ; in the mother of Didymos, Ida, Olympus and 
Sipylus, in Cybele, the goddess of the mountains, in Diana of 
the Ephesians, in the death of Adonis, and in the mystic 
ceremonies in which men were driven to imitate the extinction 
of the powers of nature. Other phases of this religion, however 
interesting, would be out of place in this book. 

The most important monuments of the culture of Asia Minor 
are to be found in the ruins of Troy, a city inhabited by a 
people called successively Trojans, Dardanians, 
Troy Town. an( j T/eucrians, who worshipped Zeus and the 
mother of the gods. The rivers of Troy are the Scamander 
and the Simois, both falling independently into the sea. At 
the junction of the plains of these two rivers is to be found 
the rock of Hissarlik, and on this Troy was built. Its citadel 
Pergamus cannot have been founded earlier than 1500 B.C., nor 
destroyed later than 1200 B.C. It is therefore an example. of the 
deeply interesting age which we have been endeavouring to de- 
scribe. We can trace its culture minutely from the results of the 
excavations carried on energetically by Schliemann, and we now 
know the details of an early civilisation which had a wide exten- 
sion. We find it spread over Phrygia and Cyprus, an island 
between which and Troy there existed a close connection. Troy, 
like Eome, was eminently a sea town, and thus had special facili- 
ties for spreading its influence. We find, therefore, traces of 
its culture in Sinear, and even in Europe as far north as the 
Danube. 

We must now briefly consider the position of other parts of 

Europe. The Aegean is not a barrier but a bridge — a bridge 

The Islands formed of islands. Indeed it was more than 

of the this, because the islands themselves became the 

Aegean. sea t of a culture which spread indifferently both 

to the east and to the west, and eventually had the result of 

overthrowing its place of origin. We are generally told that 

the earliest inhabitants of Greece were the Pelasgians, but who 

were they ? Science cannot decide whether they were a Grecian 

or a non-Grecian race, but probably the first. No doubt the 



to c. 1750 B.c.l BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 33 

earliest civilisation of the Aegean is to be found in Crete and the 
Cyclades. In the middle of the third millennium before Christ, 
Crete entered upon a course of powerful develop- 
ment, and for a long time exercised a supremacy 
over the Aegean world. The island is divided into two parts, 
and important results were introduced by the incursion of a 
foreign nation at the end of the third millenary, who were called 
by the Greeks Eteocretes, but by others Kapti, and of whom 
we know little except that they were adventurous mariners like 
the Yikings or the Normans, and were perhaps identical with 
the Etruscans. There were close relations between Crete and 
Egypt, Crete sending its warships to the valley of the Nile, 
and the Pharaohs of the twelfth dynasty extending their authority 
over the island. 

As to the mainland of Greece, we know little about the 
relations of it to the Balkan Peninsula. The Indo-Germanic 
nations, who inhabited this part of the world, fall The early 
into three groups, Greeks, Illyrians, and Thracians, Inhabitants 
with possibly a fourth, Epirots. The Greeks of Europe. 
were pressed towards the south by the other races, possibly 
about 2500 B.C., and in the thirteenth century before Christ 
Greece was further invaded by the people known as Dorians. 
The earliest known inhabitants of Europe were probably 
Iberians, a small dark race who lingered long in the Medi- 
terranean Riviera and in the valleys of the Pyrenees, their 
present living representatives being the Basques. England 
and Ireland were inhabited by Picts. The Mongolian tribes, 
now represented by the Finns, had also a large development, and 
may have occupied a great portion of Russia. It is tolerably 
certain that from the third millenary before Christ the greater 
part of Europe was inhabited by settled tribes, who lived in 
friendly intercourse and possessed a highly developed civilisa- 
tion of the stone age type ; also that the sea. gave a great advan- 
tage in progress to those who dwelt by its shores. The stone 
age was succeeded by the age of bronze, the copper coming from 
the south. It was used in Egypt early in the fourth millenary ; 
in Crete, Cyprus, Troy, and Sinear about a thousand years later. 
Gradually tin was used to harden it, but bronze does not make 
its appearance till about 2000 B.C. Gold and silver were used 
for personal adornment, gold being found in many rivers, but 
the origin of silver is obscure. The custom of burying the 
dead seems to have developed concurrently with the rise of 
bronze. The inhabitants of Europe appear to have been deficient 

C 



34 A GENERAL HISTORY [to c. 1750 b.c. 

in independent creative power and to have owed their develop- 
ment entirely to more advanced peoples of the south and the east. 
Consequently, we find that they have no history before the 
time of the Romans. Until the period of the great migration, 
and the introduction of Christianity, Western, Central, and 
Northern Europe owed their culture entirely to foreign sources ; 
but, when they had once received' it, they developed it with an 
energy and a success which came entirely from themselves. 
The beginnings of civilisation belonged undoubtedly to Egypt 
and to Babylon. Which was first, and which was more im- 
portant, remains still a matter of dispute. A certain amount 
of civilisation grew up among the Semites in Troy and in Crete, 
and amongst the Indo-Germans, but the higher spiritual life 
was derived from Egypt and Sinear. When the movement 
began, Greece took the lead, Italy and Sicily long remaining 
passive and the rest of Europe untouched. What we can assert 
with confidence about culture does not assist us much in ques- 
tions of ethnography. It is indeed probable that Scandinavia 
has been inhabited by the same race from the stone age to our 
own, but we can know nothing for certain. The debt which 
we owe to those nations with whose history these two first 
chapters have been concerned makes them Avell worthy of our 
serious study. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE INDO-GERMANIC RACE— EGYPT UNDER THE 
NEW EMPIRE, 1580-523 B.C. 

Before we proceed to treat in detail of the various nations of 
Europe, we must give some account of the Indo-Germanic race 
to which they all belong. This race was not The Indo- 
confined to Europe alone : the Aryans in India Germanic 
and Persia, the Phrygians and Armenians in Race. 
Asia Minor, were all Indo-Germanic. Wherever they came, 
they either subdued or overlaid the inferior races with which 
they came into contact : consequently the culture of the whole 
world is now of an Indo-Germanic character. No other race, 
not even that of the Semites, has been able to stand against 
them. We may naturally inquire what was the original home 
of the Indo-Germans, how they came into the world, and how 
their different branches were composed. Undoubtedly they 
were an independent people, not a mixture from several 
origins. At the same time it is difficult to derive them from 
a single race. The appellation Aryan, which was once very 
common, probably belongs only to the group which was settled 
in India and Persia. A further division into sections is ex- 
tremely difficult, but we may establish a broad distinction 
between Eastern and Western. As to the time of their appear- 
ance, we find Aryan elements in Syria and Mesopotamia in the 
fifteenth century B.C., and their development in western India 
belongs to the same date. The Greeks were settled in the 
southern portion of the Balkan Peninsula at the same time, 
marking the transition from the stone to the bronze age. We 
may say therefore that the spreading of the Indo-Germanic race 
began about 2500 B.C., and that they had reached their farthest 
limits before the middle of the second millenary. 

They were evidently a people mainly pastoral, to some extent 
agricultural. In Europe, at least, they had common words for 
ploughing, sowing, and mowing ; they certainly possessed horses, 
but no pigs or geese. They built houses and crossed rivers and 



36 A GENERAL HISTORY 

lakes in boats, and spun and wove, and used bronze and copper, but 
no gold, silver, or iron — all which marks the end of the stone age. 
They were governed by a patriarchal system. We cannot tell 
precisely whether they burned or buried their dead, but it is 
possible that burning was first an honour to distinguished people, 
and then spread to all classes. They probably made their 
appearance not as small tribes, like the Semites and the Kelts, 
but in large hordes, like the Scythians, the Huns, the Turks, and 
the Mongols. There was room for the formation of these in the 
large plains which lay in the north of Europe and Asia. 

They seem to have worshipped a common god, the God of 
heaven and light, the Djaus of India, the Zeus of Greece, the 

Jupiter of Italy. He was the father of gods and 
R ,. . men, the source of all life and all happiness, to 

be worshipped by prayers and sacrifices. This 
dominating position of gods of heaven is characteristic of the 
Indo-Germanic religion. It is indeed found in other nations, 
among the Turks, the Chinese, the Mongols, and, in the less 
attractive form of an angry god of storms, among the people 
of Asia Minor. But the essential difference is that, while 
elsewhere the divinities were local, with the Indo-Germans 
there was one supreme god of the whole race. There is also 
the difference that, whereas the Semites regarded God and Man 
as completely different, separated by an impassable chasm, the 
Indo-Germans had no such conception, but believed the divine 
and the human to be closely connected, so that the idea of an 
incarnation, foreign and even repulsive to the one, was familiar 
and even acceptable to the other. Next to father Zeus in 
Heaven is mother Earth, married to him by the rain which 
by their union produces all the fruits of the soil. In the great 
picture of Primavera, or Spring, by Botticelli, besides Venus 
and the Graces, and Flora, scattering her wealth of flowers, 
stands Mercury, the God of Gain, with his caduceus bringing on 
the rain cloud, the source of all wealth and prosperity. The 
third deity is the fire of the hearth, symbolising the peace and 
protection of the home, its smoke arising as an offering to 
heaven. It is remarkable that, when at Baalbec Antoninus 
Pius, the most religious and one of the greatest of the Roman 
emperors, built in the third century a shrine, a wonder of 
the world, for the celebration of the fundamental worship both 
of Semites and of Aryans ; and he erected two temples — one to 
the Heaven and the other to the Earth, while close by stands 
the round temple of the Hearth, of uncertain origin. 




THE ANCIENT WORLD 



oSuSCL 



Statute MO es 

100 50 O lOO 20O 300 400 500 




THE INDO GERMANIC RACE 37 

Gifted as the Indo-Germans were above all other nations 
of the world, their first home and their origin are uncertain. 
The idea that they came from India, and that m " 
Sanskrit is the oldest of their languages, must ^ Home, 
be given up, and the European origin of the 
Indo-Germans cannot be maintained. It is most likely on 
the whole that this gifted race in both its branches, those 
who call hundred by the word centum and those who call it 
by satem, lived originally in the great high table-land of 
Central Asia, and this conclusion, long suspected by intuition, 
has been confirmed by the most modern discoveries. It is 
curious that the solution of this great problem should lie in 
the investigation of the Wusum nations and the more complete 
knowledge of the Tokarish language. We can at any rate 
affirm that the earliest Indo-Germanic settlement of which 
we have knowledge arose at the close of the Neolithic age, 
about 2500-2000 B.C., and announced their individuality by 
the practice of burning their dead. 

A great portion of the table-land of Iran and of northern 
India was inhabited in historical times by a branch of the 
Indo-German stock calling themselves Arian or 
Aryans, meaning nobles or lords. We have 
already seen that Aryan tribes and gods make their appearance 
by the Matani, in north-western Mesopotamia, and also in 
Syria ; and that Aryan traces are found in Cossoean tribes which 
in the eighteenth century came down from Mount Zagus into 
Sinear. About the same time the Eastern branch of Aryans, 
the future Indians, were occupying the land of the seven 
streams, bordered by the Indus, the five rivers of the Punjab, 
and the river of Kabul. The Vedas, the religious hymns 
which contain the earliest forms of Indian speech, worship, and 
civilisation, cannot be later than 1555 B.C., so that we may fix 
the settlement of the Aryans in the homes which they were 
to occupy soon after 2000 B.C. In historical times we find 
them divided into the two great branches of 
Indians and Iranians, that is Persians. There Jraiian S aild 
is no doubt that both branches came from the 
neighbourhood of the Pamirs, the i^oi_^f_Jfie_jworld. They ' 
possessed horses both for riding and driving : they drank 
together the magic juice of the soma, from a plant found in 
their ancient homes, but now unknown. Some of them re- 
mained as nomads, but the greater number became settled 
and lived in communities governed by chiefs, who had only a 



38 A GENERAL HISTORY [1580 b.c. to 

limited power, and were controlled by a militant aristocracy. 
A king was chosen only in time of war. They worshipped 
the original Aryan divinities of the heaven, the earth, and the 
fire of the hearth, through the medium of a highly organised 
priesthood. The soma drink was their most sacred possession, 
a benefit to friends, a lesson to enemies, the giver of health, 
happiness, and immortality, as well as of insight and offspring. 
They believed in the immortality of the soul and in the power, 
for good or harm, of the ghost, who had to be propitiated by 
the living. They were mighty drinkers of wine. Herodotus 
tells us that the Persians decided matters when drunk, and 
reviewed their decisions next morning when sober. To this 
habit is due the cult of the Soma, and the worship of Dionysus, 
the deity not only of intoxication but of drunken inspiration. 
The Indians and Iranians took different roads, one towards the 
contemplative, the other towards the active life. The Iranians 
were led by Zoroaster to practical effort and to conquest, 
while the Indians were content with mystic reflection, from 
which they have never emerged, and but for which the English 
could never have conquered or governed their country. They 
allow us to rule them because it is a matter of indifference to 
them who is the ruler. With the Indians, the Devas — and 
Indra as their chief — have a dominating position. Mitra and 
Varuna are inferior to them : the Asuras are regarded as 
enemies of the good. In the religion of Zoroaster, Ahura is 
the name of the highest god, Mithra stands at his side ; on the 
other hand the Devas, the deities of contemplation, are devils, 
and Indra is one of them. 

"We have seen from this narrative that the civilisation of 
Egypt and Babylonia reaches certainly as far back as 5000 B.C., 
and probably further back still. Then comes the oldest culture 
of Crete and Troy, always in connection with that of the 
south-east. Europe begins to move at the commencement of 
the third millenary, and the Indo-Germans and Aryans at the 
beginning of the second. The Chinese, that marvellous people, 
who for the present lie outside our scope, began their civilisa- 
tion about the same time. Our position to-day is depen- 
dent upon everything which these nations have done during 
the last seven thousand years, and traces of their earliest work 
still survive amongst us. At the same time, as in the animal 
world, progress has been very various, and some peoples, after 
reaching a certain stage of development, have been unable to 
advance further. Undoubtedly human culture is traceable far 



523E.C] EGYPT UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE 39 

beyond the limits which we have set ourselves, but we do not 
propose to cross this frontier on the present occasion. 



EGYPT UNDEE THE NEW EMPIRE, 1580-523 B.C. 

The liberation of Egypt from the Hyksos was the work of 
Thebes, and it is in that city that we find the monuments of 
the eighteenth dynasty, which succeeded them, The 
and the worship of Amon or Amon Ra, the king XVIIIth 
of the gods, which gave Thebes the name of Dynasty. 
No Amon, the town of Amon, the Diospolis of the Greeks. 
The new rulers, by their conquest of the Hyksos, filled the 
nation with a self-confidence which is shown in the splendour 
of their buildings. Few inscriptions tell us the details of their 
reign, but both banks of the Nile are covered with their works, 
the greatest of which are the ruins of Karnak. They ruled for 
over two hundred and fifty years, from 1580 to 1315 B.C. The 
first of them was Thutmosis I., whose grave is a rock tomb in 
the Valley of the Kings, and one of the most important was 
Thutmosis III., who conquered Syria and strengthened Egyptian 
influence in Asia Minor. Amenophis III., called Memnon by the 
Greeks, who reigned from 1411 to 1375, held correspondence with 
the kings of Babylonia, Assyria, and Matani, as we know from 
the documents discovered at Tel-el-Amarna. He built much 
in Nubia and at Luxor, where the colossal temple, dedicated 
to Amon Ra, is one of the wonders of the world. The two 
colossal figures, which are really portraits of the king, decorated 
the entrance to his temple, which has now almost entirely 
disappeared. In Roman times they were believed to be the 
statues of Memnon, the son of Eos and Tithonus, who was slain 
by Achilles in the Trojan war. The southern of the two 
statues is the better preserved, but the northern is the famous 
relic which, in Roman times, was supposed to utter a melodious 
sound at sunrise as a tribute to his mother Eos, whose tears 
fell in the form of dew upon her beloved son. It was heard 
by many travellers, as is testified by the scribblings of many of 
them from the time of Nero, but it ceased altogether after 
Septimius Severus. Under Memnon's rule, and in consequence of 
the reduction of the Semites, the worship of Baal and Astarte 
made their appearance in Egypt, and an active intercourse was 
kept up with Syria. Indeed Egypt became a world power. 
His successor, Amenophis IV. (1375 to 1358) declared the 

Jlr\M , . % 



zjo A GENERAL HISTORY [1580 b.o. to 

sun-god of Heliopolis to be the chief divinity, and indeed 
the sun star, the disc of the sun, to be the only god, so 
that the gods of Thebes had to give way to a more powerful 
rival. He even left his residence and established himself 
in Middle Egypt, where the ruins of Tel-el- Amarna show the 
remains of his palace. But this revolution lasted only a short 
time : the supremacy of the Theban religion was restored, 
and only records and rubbish heaps remain to tell us of his 
greatness. 

The glories of the eighteenth dynasty were surpassed b)' 
those of the nineteenth, whose king Ramses II., the son of 
The XlXth Sethos I., was probably the greatest monarch whom 
Dynasty — Egypt ever possessed. Sethos I. fought against 
Sethos I. the Libyans and the Syrians, and the mighty 
race of the Hittites, who, even under the previous dynasty, 
had pressed from Asia Minor into Syria, and had threatened 
the Egyptian possessions in that country and in Palestine. 
His temples are to be seen in Karnak and in Abydos, his 
tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and his mummy in Cairo. 
His son, Ramses II., probably reigned from 1292 
to 1225 B.C., but it is difficult to separate his 
exploits from those of his father, as they have been much 
confused by Greek historians, who, indeed, welded together 
father and son into a single person, Sesostris, whose name is as 
mythical as many of his alleged exploits. We hear of his fight- 
ing at the head of a countless host of infantry, cavalry, and war 
chariots ; marching through Asia to the conquest of Scythians 
and Thracians, then back to India in the distant east, and 
to the Ethiopians in the south. We find monuments of his 
prowess erected in different parts of the ancient world, many 
of which were seen by Herodotus. Towards the end of his 
reign he developed a great activity in building, so that his 
name is found in nearly all Egyptian ruins. The great rock 
temples of Abu Simbel, far up the Nile, were his work; his 
buildings are seen at Karnak and Luxor ; the Ramaseum, the 
gi-eat temple dedicated to Anion on the west bank of the Nile 
at Thebes, is his also, and is probably the same which is 
ascribed by the historian Diodorus to Osymandyas, another 
name for Eamses. Shelley says, " My name is Osymandias, 
King of Kings : look on my works, ye mighty, and despair." 
In the reliefs of this temple are depicted the events of the 
great battle of Kadesh, in which Ramses broke the power 
of the Hittites. At the Nahr-el-Kelb, the Dog River, just 



523 b.c.] EGYPT UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE 41 

north of Beirut, are many reliefs carved in the rock ; there 
are several of Ramses ; side by side with them are reliefs of 
Sennacherib and other kings of the Assyrians, showing how that 
people, advancing towards the Mediterranean seven hundred 
years later, acquired the coveted sea-coast which had been 
conquered by the Egyptians. This conquest was the fruit 
of the battle of Kadesh, after which the Dog River was fixed 
as the southern limit of the Hittite empire. In the sculp- 
tures of the Ramaseum, the king, towering above the other 
warriors in his chariots, lays low with his arrows the Hittites, 
or treads them under foot with his horses ; many are drowned 
in the river, on the banks of which we see the towers of 
Kadesh, crowded with Hittite warriors, some of them helping 
their drowning comrades from the stream. Besides this, 
his works are found at Abydos, Memphis, and Bubastis : his 
tomb is in the Valley of the Kings — his mummy, an admirably 
preserved portrait, in the Museum at Cairo. When, in the 
time of the early Roman empire, Germanicus, the son of Drusus, 
visited Egypt, the priests discoursed to him more than any- 
thing else on the glories of their hero, Ramses IT. We must 
not pass over in silence his colossal statue in Memphis, of 
which only fragments remain, but which was formerly erected by 
him, together with that of his wife and his four sons, before 
the ancient temple of Ptah. The face of the statue is well 
preserved, and it bears the inscription, " Bamses, Miamun, 
Sun, chosen by Ra." He was also an active maker of canals. 
He may be regarded as, if not the greatest, at any rate the 
most typical of all Egyptian monarchs. 

After a long reign of sixty-six years he was succeeded by 
his thirteenth son, Menepthah, a large number of his children 
having died in his lifetime. Menepthah followed Reign of 
in the footsteps of his father, but did not equal Menep- 
his glory. Inscriptions show that he subdued than, 
the swarthy negroes and the fair peoples of Asia. The rock 
temple of Hath or, at Benihassan, was built by him. He re- 
pelled an invasion of the Libyans, accompanied by Mediter- 
ranean peoples who may have been Achreans, Sardinians, 
Sicilians, and Etruscans, and destroyed them. Manetho records 
that he was driven from his throne by a re- 
bellion of his subjects, and lived for ten years in ^nast^ 11 
Ethiopia. After Menepthah came a period of 
anarchy, which was put an end to by raising to the throne 
King Setnacht, the founder of the twentieth dynasty, which 



42 A GENERAL HISTORY [1580 b.c. to 

reigned from 1200 to 1090 B.C., but whose domestic quarrels at 
last brought to an end the glory of Thebes, whose hundred gates 
with their crowds of marching warriors fired the imagination 
of Rome, and fill modern travellers with admiration. 

Ramses III. was the greatest monarch of the twentieth dynasty. 
He subdued the Libyans and conquered in two sea fights the 
Ramses III. a ^ied fleets of the Mediterranean peoples to 
—End of which we have alluded. He reigned for thirty- 
the New one years in power and glory. The great temple 

Empire. built by him is to be found at Medinet Habu, a 

part of Thebes on the west bank of the Nile. It is a colossal 
work, and is formed on the model of the Ramaseum. He is 
called by Herodotus, Rhamsinitus, and built the famous treasure 
house which was eventually plundered by the cunning thief 
who succeeded in marrying the king's daughter. His tomb is 
still to be seen in the Valley of the Kings, but his magnificent 
sarcophagus of red granite is in Paris, and the case of it in 
London. His mummy is among the treasures of the Museum 
of Cairo. Towards the end of his life, he became more and 
more given to works of piety, and made rich presents to the 
priests of Amon, the result of which was that the high priest 
of that deity became virtually the ruler of the country. This 
state of things continued, and indeed became worse, under the 
Ramses who succeeded him with the numbers from IV. to XII., 
until at last Herihor, high priest of Amon, himself ascended 
the throne. 

With the last of the Ramses, the power of Egypt came to an 

end. The twenty-first dynasty, that of the Tanites, which 

T , lasted from 1090 to 945 B.C., took its rise in Tanis, 

Dvnastv ^ ie ^oar °^ tne Bible, on the road between Cairo 

and Mansurah in the fertile Delta. The priests 

were the real rulers for the phantom kings, among whom was 

Psusennes, who had commercial connections with King Solomon, 

and supported him in war against his enemies. One of his 

daughters was one of Solomon's wives. After his death the 

friendly relations between Egypt and Israel came to an end. 

Pinotem I., high priest of Thebes, by marrying a Tanite, 

became king of all Egypt, and was succeeded by his sons, who 

held the same office. Nubia became independent. 

The twenty-second dynasty (945 to 745) B.C., was formed by 
kings of Libyan origin, who came into Egypt originally as 
mercenaries, like the Manchus, settled in the Eastern Delta, 
and acquired power by the weakness of the throne. They 



523 b.c] EGYPT UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE 43 

placed their residence in Bubastis, not far from Zagazig. 
The power of Thebes declined more and more : princes of the 
royal house became priests of Amon. The 
founder of the dynasty was Sesonchis, also called rivnastv 
Shesonch, and in the Bible Sisak. We are told in 
the first book of Kings that, when the ten tribes rebelled 
against Rehoboam and chose Jeroboam as their king, Sisak 
marched against Jerusalem and took the treasures of the 
temple and the palace, and the golden shields which Solomon 
had made. In the temple of Karnak built by him, we see 
him holding his spear over a number of conquered enemies. 
He is coloured red, and near him is the God Amon in blue, 
holding rows of kneeling and fettered prisoners by a cord. 
Their shields bear the names of Mahanaim, Bethoron, Megiddo, 
and the king of Judah. But under his successors the kingdom 
fell on evil days, and was broken up into a number of small 
principalities. 

This dark time of Egyptian history lasted for two hundred 
years. Upper Egypt was conquered by Ethiopian kings, whose 
capital was Napata, above Wady Haifa. In T^g 
730 B.C. Tefnacht, prince of Sais and Memphis, Ethiopian 
attempted to gain the lordship of the Lower Conquest. 
Nile, but was conquered by King Pianchi of Ethiopia, and 
Memphis was subdued. Bokchoris, son and successor of 
Tefnacht, succeeded in effecting what his father had failed to 
do, and acquired the lordship of Lower Egypt, but Sabakon of 
Ethiopia overthrew him and had him burned, and the whole of 
Egypt again became Ethiopian. — three Ethiopian kings form 
the twenty-fifth dynasty, lasting from 812 to 663 B.C. Of these, 
Sabakon assisted King Hezekiah of Judah against the Assyrians. 
Taharka also, the Tishakah of the Bible, did the •pjjg 
same thing, but was conquered in 670 B.C. by Assyrian 
Esarhaddon and compelled to fly to Ethiopia. Conquest. 
The whole of Egypt was subdued by the Assyrians, a few small 
kings, such as Necho of Sais, remaining in their territories as 
vassals of Assyria. All attempts to drive the Assyrians from 
the country failed. In 663, Tanutamon, the son of Shabako, 
made a fruitless attempt to recover his independence, and was 
driven back, but at last, when the Assyrian 
armies were occupied by wars in Babylonia and fichu 1 ™ 6 
Elam, Psammetichus of Sais, the son of Necho, 
assisted by King Gyges of Lydia, succeeded in throwing off 
the Assyrian yoke. He drove out the alien government, 



44 A GENERAL HISTORY [1580 b.c. to 

obtained a supremacy over the small princes, and separated 
Ethiopia from Egypt. 

Thus began the twenty-sixth dynasty, lasting from 663 to 

523 B.C., when the country fell under Persia. It was a period of 

revived prosperity. Commerce received a stimulus 

YYVTfh 11 «/ 

~ . by the connection with Greece ; art also took a new 
Dynasty. . J , , . „ ; „ , . , 

development. A new form oi literature arose, 

but it took the shape of an imitation of the glorious past rather 

than the striking out of an independent line. It is, therefore, 

properly called the period of the Egyptian Renascence. Necho 

the son of Psammetichus conquered Syria (Josiah, 

Necno. king of Judahj f a n ing j n t h e battle of Megiddo), 

taking advantage of the fact that Assyria was engaged in a 
bitter struggle for existence against Babylonia and Media. He 
was, however, defeated at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar, 
king of Babylon, and thus lost his pre-eminence in Syria and 
Palestine. Apries, called in the Bible Hophra, 
p ' endeavoured to recover Syria, but could not 
prevent the conquest of Jerusalem b} 7 Nebuchadnezzar in 586. 
He was slain in a rebellion seventeen years later, being 
strangled, and buried in his father's grave, so that the words of 
Jeremiah (xliv. 30) became true, " Behold ! I will give Pharaoh 
Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of those that seek his life." 
The recovery of Syria was effected by his general, 
Amasis, who assumed the crown, but for security 
married a daughter of Psammetichus II., son of Necho. He 
did his best to draw Egypt into the sphere of world intercourse 
and commerce. The Ionian and Oarian mercenaries, against 
whom he had fought, he settled in Memphis, and formed them 
into a bodyguard. He made an alliance with the people of 
Cyrene, married a lady of that city, and formed the establish- 
ment of Greeks in Naucratis on the banks of the Nile, and this 
speedily became the richest commercial city in the country. 
He assisted the inhabitants of Delphi to build their temple, 
which had been bmmt down, and enriched the Grecian shrines 
with costly presents. He conquered the island of Cyprus, of 
which the Tyrians were no longer able to keep possession ; he 
so increased the wealth and prosperity of the country that it is 
said that the valley of the Nile contained in his time twenty 
thousand inhabited cities. He was a cheerful, if rather a 
vulgar soul, certainly a striking personality, and Herodotus says 
of him that he did his business early in the morning, and then 
drank and amused himself and gave himself up to every kind 



523 b.c] EGYPT UNDER THE NEW EMPIRE 45 

of sport and pleasure. He said that a bow must not always be 
strung, and his bow was often loose. He was an intimate 
friend of Polycrates of Samos. The dynasty came to an end 
with Psammetichus III., who was conquered by the Persian 
King Cambyses at Pelusium. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE, 1850-606 B.C.— JEWISH 
HISTORY TO 537 B.C. 

Opposite to the town of Mosul, on the eastern bank of the 
Tigris, lay the city of Ninus or Nineveh, the mighty metropolis 
.p, of the Assyrian Empire. The date and manner 

Assyrian of its foundation are obscure. Before the cunei- 
Empire — form inscriptions were solved we had to depend 
Nineveh. upon the accounts of the physician Ctesias, who 
gives us a long list of kings reigning over these parts of Asia 
for many hundred years, and culminating in the personalities 
of Ninus and Semiramis. According to him, their successors 
led a contemptible existence in their palaces, until Sardanapalus 
fell in 864 before the combined attack of the Medes and the 
Babylonians. This is now known to be fabulous : Ninus is the 
mere incarnation of Nineveh, as Romulus is of Rome, and the 
history of Semiramis is so overlaid with legend that it is im- 
possible to say what is false and what is true with regard to 
her. We have already heard of Asur, the cradle of the Assyrian 
race, some fifty miles south of Nineveh, not far from the con- 
fluence of the lesser Zab with the Tigris. King Tiglath Pileser, 
who lived about 1120 B.C., informs us that 641 years before 
his time the priest king of Assur erected a temple to Anu and 
Sin. A line of priests gradually gave way to a line of warriors, 
who made war against Babylon. The conquest of Babylon is 
Conquests attributed to Tuklatader in 1290 B.C., but his 
of Tiglath success was of short duration. We do not reach 
Pileser I. f| rm ground till the advent of Tiglath Pileser before 
mentioned. He was a great conqueror, penetrated into Armenia, 
and reached the source of the Tigris ; fought in wars to the 
lake of Van, conquered Carchemish, but in 1111 was defeated 
by the king of Babylon. His successors, however, were not 
able to maintain the glories of his reign. 

With the commencement of the ninth century a more success- 
ful epoch once again dawned for Assyria. Assur Nazir Habul 

4 6 



1850-606 b.c] THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE 47 

(883-858) attempted to restore the empire of Tiglath Pileser. 
Besides pressing into Armenia, he reached the Orontes and the 
Lebanon, and the kings of Sidon, Tyre, Biblos, 
and Arados, towns on the Mediterranean coast, * urtli er 
all brought him tribute. His son Shalmaneser 
II. (858 to 853) followed in his footsteps. In 854 he marched 
against Hamath, and defeated the Syrian league. He also 
made war in Armenia and Babylon. The Chaldeans, now 
mentioned for the first time in history, paid him tribute. He 
tells us that in the eighteenth year of his reign he crossed the 
Euphrates for the sixteenth time, fought against Hazael, king 
of Damascus, destroyed 16,000 of his warriors, 1121 of his 
chariots, and 410 of his cavalry, and besieged him in his capital. 
He took tribute from Jehu the son of Nimshi. On the black 
obelisk, preserved in his house, are seen representations of the 
elephant and the camel, the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus, 
also numbers of lions and apes. At the close of his reign his son 
Assurbanipal rose against him, and was supported by Asur and 
a large portion of the kingdom. His successor, Samsi Bin 
(823 to 810), restored order, and with the help of his son Bin- 
nirar II. (810 to 781) restored the prosperity of the country. 
The great object of the Assyrian kings seems to have been to 
extend their empire to the Mediterranean, the Lebanon, and 
Damascus, which necessitated the conquest of Tyre and Sidon, 
Palestine, Edom, and Philistia. These kings were followed by 
Shalmaneser III. (781 to 771), who fought especially against 
Armenia, Asurdanil (771 to 753), and Asurnirar (753 to 746). 

Nineveh was a mighty city. The prophets Jonas, ISTahum, 
and Zephaniah, who foretell its destruction, speak of its splen- 
dour with exuberant eloquence, and the cautious 
and prosaic Xenophon, who visited the city two ineve • 
hundred years after its fall, confirms the account given by 
Otesias and Herodotus. Ezekiel says of it (xxxi. 3-10) : " Behold ! 
Assur was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a 
shadowy shroud and of a high stature, and his top was among the 
clouds. The waters nourished him ; the deep made him to grow ; 
her rivers ran round about his plantation, and she sent out 
her channels into all the trees of the field, and his boughs were 
multiplied and his branches became long by reason of his many 
waters, when he shot them forth. All the fowls of heaven made 
their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the 
beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow 
dwelt all great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in 



48 A GENERAL HISTORY Lisso B .c. 

the length of his branches, for his root was by great waters. 
The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him ; the fir 
trees were not like his boughs and the plane trees were not as 
his branches, nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto 
him in his beauty. I made him fair by the multitude of his 
branches, so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden 
of God envied him." 

Tiglath Pileser II. (747-745) was the mightiest of Assyrian 
monarchs, and, owing to his connection with events which are 

recorded in the Bible, the best known. He en- 
Tiglatn deavoured to complete the conquest of Syria. He 

attacked the city of Arpad, north of Aleppo, and 
after three years' resistance it fell into his hands in 740, despite 
the assistance given to it by King Uzziah of Judah and other 
princes. In 738 he carried off Menahem from Samaria. Phul, 
mentioned in the book of Kings, may have been the same as 
Tiglath Pileser. Later, Damascus was conquered and its last 
king, Rezin, killed. King Pekah of Israel fell before him, and 
his diminished realm came into the hands of Hosea. Shalma- 
neser IY. (727-722) was succeeded by Sargon II. (722-705), the 
strongest and most important of all the great kings of Nineveh. 
In his first year he captured Samaria, and boasts that he led 
27,280 of its inhabitants into captivity. He also carried off to 
Nineveh King Hanno of Gaza, and 9000 of his subjects, whilst 
the conquest of Ashdod completed his mastery of the Phoenician 
coast. He subdued the kings of Armenia, the Medes, and 
Merodach Baladan, who had usurped the throne of Babylon. 
In 709 he made a triumphal entry into Babylon, and styled 
himself king of Sumer and Akkad. 

Sargon was murdered in 705, and was succeeded by his son 
Sennacherib. In his reign, Hezekiah of Judah and the other 

Syrian princes sought against him the aid of the 
Kin, h ^ Ethiopian Tirhaqa, who then ruled over Egypt, 

and probably defeated him. The Babylonians rose 
against him, and were supported by the king of Elam. How- 
ever, with considerable difficulty, he succeeded in re-establishing 
his authority. The most magnificent of the Nineveh palaces 
was built by hirn, and the splendours of his court excited the 

admiration of the Greeks. He was murdered in 
Esarhaddon ggj ^ ^is sons, and was succeeded by Esarhaddon 

III., who reigned from 681-668. This king suc- 
ceeded in reconquering Egypt after a terrible march through the 
desert in which his army was attacked by twelve hundred snakes 



to 606 b.c.] JEWISH HISTORY 49 

and flies with large wings. Tirhaqa fled to Ethiopia, and 
Esarhaddon secured the title of king of Upper and Lower 
Egypt and Ethiopia. His conquest of Syria is celebrated in 
the sculptured monuments of Nehr-el-Kelb, placed by the side 
of those of Ramses. Dying of old age, he left to his son Assur- 
banipal the task of ruling the mighty empire which he had 
created. 

Assurbanipal, better known as Sardanapalus, who reigned from 
668 to 625, had first to put down a rising in Egypt, and two years 
later his empire received a severe shock from the 
rebellion at Babylon of his brother, Sammuges, who ^anipal 
was supported by Chaldea, Syria, and Palestine, 
as well as by the Arabians and the Egyptians. He was, how- 
ever, able by extraordinary energy to establish his authority, 
and took Babylon after a three years' siege, in which the inhabi- 
tants suffered incredible hardships. Sammuges was burnt in an 
oven, and the rebels were buried alive. The king then entirely 
subdued the mountain tribes of Elam. He left behind him 
magnificent buildings, but the stories of his luxury and self- 
indulgence are false. He was a hero to the last. 

The destruction of Nineveh took place under his son Sarakos, 
and it was he, and not Sardanapalus, who, when he found the 
defence of the city hopeless, collected his wives 
and his treasures into the citadel and set fire to it. Nineveh 
The prophecy that Nineveh could only fall when the 
Tigris took sides against it was fulfilled by the rising of the river 
to an incredible height, which destroyed a large part of the walls. 
In the year 606 the mighty city was entirely burned, as the 
condition of its remains now testifies, and the throne of Assyria 
perished with it. The prophecies of the Hebrew prophets were 
fulfilled. Nahum could say with truth, " Thy shepherds slumber, 
O king of Assyria ! thy worthies are at rest ; thy people is 
scattered upon the mountains and there is none to gather them. 
There is no healing of thy hurt ; thy wound is grievous ; all that 
hear the bruit of thee shall clap their hands over thee ; for upon 
whom has thy wickedness passed continually ? " 



JEWISH HISTORY TO 537 B.C. 

The Jews were a branch of the Semitic race, who, leaving 
their original seat in Mesopotamia, gradually drew towards the 
south-west, and settled in southern Canaan in the neighbour- 

P 



50 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

hood of Hebron, and then extended themselves towards Egypt 
on the one side and toward Sichem on the other. In doing 
this they cut themselves off from the nature wor- 
origm g^-p w } 1 ich they had practised, and developed the 
worship of one God, which became, and has always 
remained, the mark and the strength of the Jews. Abraham, 
the leader of this wandering, gradually, by treaty and by pur- 
chase and by services rendered in war to the neigh- 

Ahrn hflin 

bouring tribes, became possessed of all lands which 
he occupied, and it is said that he extended his authority as far 
as Damascus, Eliezer being his representative in that city. The 
history of Lot also shows that the Hebrews went to the south 
of Canaan, in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, and occupied 
the country beyond Jordan. Here we find the Ammonites and 
the Moabites, tribes closely related in customs and religion to 
the Hebrews, having either broken off from them, or fallen 
behind them in their spiritual development. The Ishmae- 
litish Arabians were also connected with the Hebrews. Indeed, 
in the Arabian traditions, Abraham is said to have been the 
founder of Mecca and the builder of the Caaba. The Edomites 
also are said to have been descended from Esau. 

The name Hebrew, meaning the people from the other side 
of the river, was first given to the family of Abraham by the 
people of Canaan. We will not repeat here or comment upon 
the account given in the Bible, which is so well known to us, 
but rather relate the history of the Jews and of their relations 
with other nations from the standpoint of the History of the 
World, with which we are mainly concerned. After Jacob, we 
find the name Israel, which contained in itself the appellation 
of God. Whatever may have been the original connection 
between them, there can be no doubt that Ammonites and 
Moabites, Midianites, Edomites, and Ishmaelites were all closely 
connected with the Israelites. They had similar customs, and 
they all calculated by the number twelve, perhaps originally 
derived from the twelve signs of the Zodiac, a number also found 
in the twelve sons of Nahor, Abraham's brother. 

Of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt it is difficult to give 

a clear historical account. There is little doubt that they were 

The driven there by hunger, and that Joseph by his 

Israelites in wisdom and prudence obtained a high position in 

Egypt- the court of Pharaoh. Josephus identifies the 

Israelites with the Hyksos, and their presence in the country 

was undoubtedly contemporaneous, but it is impossible to believe 



to 537 b.c.] JEWISH HISTORY 51 

that they were identical. The Hyksos were, as far as we know, 
a warlike invading people, who laid the land waste and made 
the people tributary to them, whereas the Israelites were peaceful 
shepherds, well received by the inhabitants. At any rate their 
sojourn in Egypt had a great influence over their development. 
It is probable that the Exodus took place in consequence of 
the hard labour to which the Israelites were subjected in the 
building of the canal, projected by Ramses, for TlieEx0( j us 
the union of the Mediterranean with the Red 
Sea, and partly in the building of Pitom, aided also by the 
danger, felt by the Israelites themselves, that they might be- 
come Egyptianised, live in houses instead of in tents, and 
adopt a settled civilisation. So they departed, taking with 
them some Semites who had settled in Egypt, and a certain 
number of the Egyptians themselves. That the Exodus had 
a religious character is shown by the fact that it was led by 
Moses and Aaron, who both belonged to the priestly tribe 
of Levi. The Exodus is recorded in many different ways by 
different historians, including the Roman historian Tacitus, 
but they all agree in the fact that it arose from the efforts of 
the Pharaohs to deprive the Israelites of their free nomad 
life, and to unite them with the Egyptians in habits of agri- 
cultural industry, and living in towns, at the same time en- 
dangering their religious beliefs. So they wandered into the 
desert to seek a new home, pursued by the curses and hatred 
of the Egyptians, who regarded them as contemptible and un- 
clean. The catastrophe at the Red Sea formed an impassable 
barrier between them and their oppressors. Their first halting- 
place was the Ayun Musa, the wells of Moses, r^g 
about four hours' march from Suez. Then, pass- Wanderings 
ing through the wilderness of Sur, they reached in the 
Elim, with twelve wells and seventy palm trees. Desert - 
They then approached the mountains of Sinai, travelling 
through the wilderness of Sur, where they suffered severely 
from hunger. At Sinai, laws were promulgated for the nation 
under its new conditions, which remain, even at the present 
day, the basis of all law for the Jews, and - 

form part of their sacred writings. The code of Moses 
Moses is similar in many respects to the code 
of Hammurabi already described. At last they reached the 
wilderness of Paran, towards Hebron, where they remained 
for several years. It lies between Egypt, Palestine, and the 
mountains of Edom, and is now called El Tih. They then went 



52 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

to Kades, where they felt great anxiety as to whether they 
could penetrate into Palestine in the face of the tribes who 
opposed them. We do not know how long this condition of 
things lasted. Forty years is an expression for a generation ; 
the actual wanderings could not have occupied more than three 
years, and it is difficult to account for the remaining thirty- 
seven. But the sojourn in Kades gave the opportunity for 
organising the Israelites for war, and for consolidating the 
Ammonites and the Moabites into a league against the tribes 
of Canaan. They were at last able to overcome the opposition 
of the hostile king of the Amorites, and occupied the pasture 
land of Gilead and the country west of the Jordan. Moses, 
however, the second founder of the nation, died before the 
The Con- entrance into the land of promise. Once begun, 
quest of the conquest of Palestine was rapidly effected. 

Palestine. After crossing the Jordan, the camp was pitched 
in Gilgal, and Jericho, a peaceful city, was taken by storm. 
Then followed the fall of Ai, and both cities were destroyed. 
The Hivites in Gibeon now entered into an alliance with the 
invaders. A quick night march of Joshua's saved them from 
the vengeance of the Amorites. Joshua succeeded in finishing 
the battle in the valley of Ajalon before darkness came on. 
The conquest of Canaan by the Israelites has been compared 
to the conquest of the Peloponnesus by the Dorians. In either 
case the land was newly divided, and the old inhabitants 
crushed. But, after the first successes, the reduction of the 
country proceeded more slowly, and the land was divided 
among the tribes before it could be said to belong to them. 
They had to complete its subjection by the sword. After the 
death of Joshua, who was a clever and successful general, the 
Canaanites again raised their heads and renewed the struggle. 

The Israelites held the heights, but the Canaanites, who 
fought with horses and chariots, defended the plains and the 
Hebrews fruitful valleys and occupied the towns. The 
and Hebrews, who fought on foot and with simple 

Canaanites. weapons, and, even at a later period, had a dis- 
like to horses and chariots, and preferred riding on asses, had 
some difficulty both in capturing the country and in holding 
it when captured. They lived for a long time side by side 
with the native population, and sometimes entered the service 
of the wealthy merchants on the Phoenician coast. Conse- 
quently they lost their cohesion, and matters were made worse, 
in some cases, by the return of the original owners. The 



to 537 b.c.] JEWISH HISTORY 53 

Israelites never gained possession of the towns on the sea-coast, 
or of the strong places in the interior. Jebus, later Jerusalem, 
did not come into their possession until the time of David, and 
the same is true of Gaza and of many other famous places. We are 
told that Asher and Naphthali dwelt " among the Canaanites." 

The consequence of this was that the Israelites lost their 
sense of unity, and became a collection of independent tribes, 
of which Ephraim and Judah were the chief. Corruption 
The religious tie became looser. There were of Hebrew 
sanctuaries of Jehovah at Gilgal, Bethel, and Religion. 
Shiloh, but there was no central place of worship, and a kind of 
idolatry grew up. The Canaanite worship of Baal had its effect, 
and we find names like Jerubbaal becoming frequent among the 
Jews. The religion of Moses and the idolatry of the heathen 
existed side by side. The pure worship of Jehovah became 
corrupted by sensuality, and the representation of the divinity 
by carven images made its appearance. It was probably the 
religion of Moloch which induced Jephthah to sacrifice his 
daughter. This state of things was declaimed against on the 
rise of " judges " who defended the worship of the 
national God. Twelve of them are mentioned, 
but there were probably many more. To them belonged 
Othniel of Judah, Ehud of Benjamin, Deborah of Naphthali, 
Gideon of Manasseh. But it became necessary to have a strong 
and united government. The Philistines, who, in the time of 
Samson, had subdued Judah and Simeon, now began to attack 
Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. The priest Eli was chosen 
as judge and leader of the people, and he seems 
at first to have answered their expectations. But 
when he became old and blind, and his sons fell into bad courses, 
the power of the enemy increased. They defeated the Israelites 
at Aphek and captured the ark of God. Eli, on hearing of the 
disaster, fell from his chair and broke his neck. 

In this extremity arose a great judge, Samuel, brought up as 
a pious child in the temple of Shiloh by Eli. He called the 
people together at Mizpah, and Jehovah declared 
himself on his side. The Philistine army was en- s ^ Ue 
tirely destroyed, and the captured towns were re- 
covered. But the peace with the Philistines did not last long, and 
the people clamoured for a king. Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, 
the son of Kish, the tallest and hardiest among his people, 
enraged at the excesses of the Ammonites across the Jordan, 
who, under ISTahash, attacked Jabesh Gilead, summoned the 



54 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

people to him, and, passing the Jordan, defeated the marauders. 
After this the people assembled at Gilgal, and, after a thank- 
offering, made Saul king. The reign of Saul is placed between 
1080 and 1058 B.C. or, by some, between 1055 and 1033. But, 
although Saul had been crowned by Samuel, discord inevitably 
arose between the temporal and the spiritual powers. Saul 
was, at first, the humble disciple of Samuel, but his victories 
made him proud, and he disliked the presence of the prophet. 
Samuel lived in Ramah, and devoted himself to the creation of 
" schools of the prophets," a body of enthusiastic worshippers of 
Jehovah and preachers of his religion, whose natural vigour 
was stirred and deepened by the study of music. Saul lived a 
patriarchal existence at Gilboa, enjoying his reputation as an 
heroic king, with his four sons and two daughters, and he 
favoured the efforts of Samuel in the development of religious 
zeal, so that men said, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" 

We need not relate the well-known story of David, 
David and familiar to all who attend religious worship, or 

the sad ending of Saul, whose sun set among the 
clouds of mental disorder. David reigned for forty years, and 
his son Solomon for thirty. Hommel places these dates as late 
as 1000 to 960 for David and 960 to 930 for Solomon. David 
acquired Jerusalem, and established there the ark of God. 
When he entered it, he brought rich booty with him, a hundred 
chariots of war from Hadadezer, golden shields from the con- 
quered towns, and a quantity of copper. He was a mighty 
ruler, and yet a man after God's heart. He was also the writer 
of a large portion of the Psalms, although modern research 
denies him the authorship of many. His son Solomon came 
like Augustus after Caesar. He did not extend the empire 
beyond its existing boundaries, but he gave it unity, strength, 
and power of defence. It extended from the boundaries of 
Egypt to the Euphrates, from the flourishing town of Thapsacus 
to Gaza on the Philistine coast. He fortified his army with 
horses and chariots of war, following the example of Egypt and 
bringing them from that country. He gave great attention to 
commerce, especially with Tyre and Sidon and Egypt. Jeru- 
salem became a place of exchange between the east and the 
west. He made arrangements for the caravan trade, and for 
that purpose chose the oasis of Tadmor in the desert. Israel, 
which formerly had only corn and wool to offer, now took part 
in the general commerce of the world, and, although a large 
portion of the profit came into the treasury of the king, yet the 



to 537 b.c.] JEWISH HISTORY 55 

people gained both in material wealth and in the happiness 
and prosperity which accompanied it. In later years the 
Jews looked back with longing, to the happy days of Solomon, 
when Judah and Israel lived in security, every one, from 
Dan to Beersheba, under his own vine and under his own 
fig tree. 

The glory of Solomon's reign consisted largely in his buildings, 
for which, like his father, he employed Phoenician artists and 
architects. In this he determined to emulate 
the example of the Egyptian and Babylonian Temple 113 
kings. Solomon went to Hiram, king of Tyre, to 
say that he intended to build a house for Jahve his God, and that 
for this purpose he was having cedars cut down in Lebanon, and 
he called Hiram to help him, as none were so skilful in working 
cedar wood as the Sidonians. The cedar trees were cut down in 
Lebanon, worked at Sidon, and brought by sea to Joppa, and by 
land to Jerusalem. From the temple led a magnificent stair- 
case, which the king alone might ascend, to the royal palace. 
This consisted of three separate buildings, state rooms for public 
occasions, a house for himself, and a house for his Egyptian wife. 
The palace was surrounded by gardens and vineyards, and by 
artificial water works extending a long distance. He also 
built a fortress, Millo, to fill up the space between Mount 
Moriah and Zion, the city of David. He also erected country 
houses in other places, especially in the Lebanon, perhaps the 
most beautiful spot on the surface of the globe. There was a 
summer palace on the heights of Lebanon, a vineyard in Baal 
Hamon, and an ivory tower on the summit of Anti- Lebanon, 
where the eye could wander over the plains towards Damascus. 

Besides this splendour in building, Solomon was celebrated 
for his wisdom, and his name stood all through the Middle Ages, 
even down to our time, for the very quintessence 
of recondite learning and practical insight. He , i j is ° m 
was equally remarkable for the possession of 
natural and supernatural powers. We are told that God gave 
Solomon wisdom and much understanding as the sand of the 
sea-shore, and his wisdom was greater than all the sons of the 
East and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He spoke three 
thousand proverbs, and his sayings were a thousand and five. 
He spoke about trees, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop 
that grows out of the wall ; he spoke about cattle and about 
birds, and about worms and about fishes ; and people came from 
all nations and kingdoms to hear the wisdom of Solomon. One of 



56 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

these visitors was the queen of Sheba, who came to Jerusalem 
with a very great train, with camels that bare spices and very 
much gold and precious stones. They made each other mag- 
nificent presents of very great value, but it is impossible to say 
precisely Avhere Sheba is. Not inferior to Solomon's wisdom 
and riches were the splendour of his court and the general 
prosperity of the capital. We are told that he " made silver in 
Jerusalem to be as stones, and cedars made he to be as sycamore 
trees that are in the lowland for abundance." His court and 
position recall those of Louis XIV. of France at Versailles. But 
there were shadows in the splendour. The simple patriarchal 
Evils of kingship could not be changed into the despot- 
despotic i sm of an oriental monarch without serious evil 
Govern- consequences, and Solomon's own character was 
ment. n0 ^ devoid of weakness and sensuality. As in 

Egypt, the public buildings threw intolerable burdens upon the 
people. In spite of his wealth, Solomon became seriously in 
debt to Hiram of Tyre, and he was obliged to cede to him, 
besides large payments of money, twenty wealthy cities on the 
Tyrian frontier. The tribes became jealous of the commanding 
position of Jerusalem and of the splendour of its temple. He 
also offended the prophets. The creation of an absolute kingdom 
impaired the theocracy which it was their duty to preserve. He 
was opposed by Ahijah and Shemaiah, as David had been 
opposed by Gad and Nathan. They did not approve of his 
tolerance towards the religion of his wives and concubines, nor 
could they bear to see altars raised in Jerusalem to Astarte of 
the Sidonians, Milkar of the Ammonites, and Chemosh of the 
Moabites. Ephraim and the northern tribes became jealous that 
their altars were neglected. When Solomon was occupied with 
the building of Millo, he remarked among the overseers a 
strong young man, who pleased him so much that he placed 
him over all the workers of the house of Joseph. This was 
Jeroboam, the son of a widow of Ephraim. To him came Ahijah 
the prophet from Shiloh,and, seizing Jeroboam's new cloak, tore 
it into twelve pieces, and, giving him ten of them, said, " This 
will the Lord, the God of Israel, do ; he will tear off ten tribes 
of the house of David and give them unto thee." Upon this, 
Jeroboam took up arms against Solomon, but was conquered 
and fled to Egypt, where he was received in a friendly manner 
by Sisak, king of Egypt, whom we have already mentioned. 
He was able to form a conspiracy with his friends, which broke 
out after Solomon's death. 



to 537 B.c.l JEWISH HISTORY 57 

After Solomon's death, the tribes met at Sichem in Ephraim, 
and sent for Solomon's son, Rehoboam, then forty years old, 
born of an Ammonite mother, and asked him to Rehoboam 
lighten the burdens which his father had thrown —Division 
upon them. He demanded three days for con- of the 
sideration, and at the end of that time refused to Kingdom, 
make any abatement of ,his rights, saying, indeed, that his 
father had lashed the people with whips, but that he would 
flay them with scourges. The reply to this was, " What have 
we to do with David 1 To your tents, Israel ! " Thus the 
kingdom was divided. Jeroboam first chose Sichem for his 
capital, but afterwards moved to Tirza. The essence of the 
decision lay in the antagonism between Ephraim and Judah, 
between the old shrines of Bethel, Gideon, and Shiloh, and the 
new temple of Jerusalem, between patriarchal monarchy and 
despotism, between north and south. No doubt the national 
feeling was better exhibited in the ten tribes of Israel than in 
the small kingdom of Judah, yet Judah eventually won the 
victory, and it was from Judah that Christ came. 

The first step of Jeroboam was to restore the ancient sanctu- 
aries, but he did this by erecting in Dan and in Bethel a 
temple with the image of a bull, which he in- 
troduced from Egypt, and calling upon the er oam ' 
people to worship it. He also made priests out of the common 
people. In this he fell away from the spiritual standard 
which the best minds of the nation had always followed, and 
of which they were now in favour. He soon had to undergo 
the trial of war. The Ammonites and Moabites revolted 
against Israel, the Edomites from Judah. The Ammonites 
made an alliance with Damascus and with other tribes as 
far as the Euphrates, and Jeroboam took up his residence 
in Punel, in order to attack them. 

After Jeroboam had reigned twenty-two years he was suc- 
ceeded by his son, Nadab, but he held the throne for only 
two _ years. As he was fighting against the Revolutions 
Philistines, and was encamped at Gibeon in the in the 
northern tribe of Dan, he was murdered by Northern 
Baesha, an officer from the house of Issachar, Kingdom, 
who seized the crown. After killing what remained of Jero- 
boam's family, Baesha made war against Judah, and entrenched 
himself in Ramah, where he built a fortress as a defence 
against the southern kingdom. Upon this, King Asa, the 
grandson of Rehoboam, procured the assistance of Benhadad 



58 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

of Damascus, who marched into the northern territory around 
the springs of the Jordan, and checked Baesha in his career. 
Asa destroyed Ramah,, and used the materials to fortify Geba 
and Mizpah. After Baesha had reigned twenty-four years 
in Tirza, he was succeeded by his son Elah, but the new 
king was murdered by Zimri, the leader of half the cavalry, 
who aimed at the crown and exposed the family of Baesha 
to the same fate which had befallen that of Jeroboam. The 
army, however, would not recognise the pretensions of Zimri, 
and made Omri king in his place. Omri marched against 
Zimri, who was in Tirza, and pressed him so far that he 
took refuge in the innermost rooms of his palace, set it on 
fire, and perished in the flames. Omri, who was a man of 
considerable tact and intelligence, removed his capital to 
Samaria, made peace with Judah and Benhadad, and established 
a commercial union between Samaria and the Phoenician coast. 
He was succeeded by his son Ahab as king of Israel. 

Ahab at first followed in the steps of his father with 
a view to securing a peaceful and prosperous reign. He 

married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of 
Anaba Tyre, and came into close connection with the 

Phoenicians. He erected a charming palace with 
large gardens and an ivory house. This produced similar 
evil effects to those which we have seen in the reign of 
Solomon. Jezebel brought in her own religion, and Ahab 
built a large temple to Baal, served by 450 priests. We must 

now turn to Judah. Rehoboam had sought to de- 
Suece ° o™ S ^ enc ^ ^ s small kingdom by fifteen well-garrisoned 

fortresses, but in the fiftieth year of his reign 
Judah was invaded and plundered by Sisak king of Egypt, 
the ally of Jeroboam, an exploit of which we have a representa- 
tion in the southern outer wall of the temple of Karnak. 
Rehoboam was followed by Abijah, and Abijah by Asa, who 
returned to the worship of Jehovah. He strengthened his 
kingdom internally and without, repulsed an army of Ethiopians 
and Egyptians who attacked him, and brought back much 
spoil to Jerusalem. As we have already heard, he was less 
fortunate in his war with Baesha, but he died full of years 
and honours, and was long regarded as one of the best kings 
that Judah ever possessed. He was succeeded by Jehosophat, 
who also supported the worship of Jehovah. He built castles 
and towns and reorganised the army. When the Edomites, 
Ammonites, and Moabites invaded his country and occupied 



to 537 b.c.] JEWISH HISTORY 59 

Engedi upon the Red Sea, he marched against them and 
defeated them, taking much spoil. Jehosophat reigned like 
David arid Solomon over all the country down to the Persian 
Gulf, where he kept some ships of Tarshish. The Philistines 
did him homage, and even the Bedouins of Arabia gave him 
a tribute from their flocks. 

Under Ahab and Jehosophat the relations between the 
kingdoms of Israel and Judah entered into a new phase. 
The two kings sought to live at peace with the Alliance of 
world, and began by living at peace with each the two 
other, and their alliance was strengthened by Kingdoms, 
the marriage of Jehoram, the son of Jehosophat, with Athaliah, 
the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Unfortunately their union 
had the effect of introducing the worship of the Tyrian 
deities, which had already begun in Israel, into the southern 
kingdom, and the threatened corruption of the people's 
faith was withstood by the energy of the prophets. We 
have already heard of the school of the prophets and of the 
saying, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" The prophetic 
power, which was given in some measure to Saul, was also 
shared by David, and to a greater extent by Solomon. After 
the division of the kingdom, the authority of the prophets 
still continued, mainly perhaps in the north, and we know 
that the usurpation of Jeroboam was first suggested to him 
by Ahijah. The prophets always defended the cause of 
patriotism and of the national religion. For a time it seemed 
as if the two powers of the king and the prophets would 
dwell together in peace, but dissensions between them broke 
out, first in the southern kingdom, and we see King Asa 
throwing the prophet Hanan in prison. The quarrel reached 
its height when the splendid sensual worship of Astarte usurped 
the place of the simple sacrifices of the Jewish people. The 
prophets, who had not objected to the calves of Dan and Baal, 
saw with very different eyes the gorgeous and seducing cult 
of the Tyrian deities. They raised their voice against inno- 
vation, and roused the people to opposition. 

Jezebel, the passionate consort of Ahab, proceeded to stronger 
measures. She ordered all the prophets of Jehovah to be slain 
and their altars overthrown. The defenders of 
the ancient faith had to flee the country and 1J 

to hide themselves in caves and deserts. Obadiah, a royal 
official, concealed a hundred in caves. The greatest of them, 
Elijah of Tishbi in Gilead, a prophet mighty in word and deed, 



60 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

escaped to the other side of the Jordan, and concealed himself 
by the brook Cherith, where, it was said, he was fed by ravens. 
When the brook dried up, after a drought of three years, be 
went to a widow living at Sarepta in the land of the Sidonians, 
where he restored her little son to life. After this he had an 
interview with King Ahab, who said to him, " Art thou he that 
troubleth Israel?" Elijah replied, "It is not I that trouble 
Israel, but thou and thy house, because they go after idols." He 
asked Ahab to call together all the priests of Baal, who fed at 
Jezebel's table, to meet at Mount Oarmel, and thus the drought 
which afflicted the country would come to an end. Then followed 
the well-known struggle between the power of Baal and the 
power of Jehovah, which ended in the triumph of the true God. 
Baal refused to hear the cries of his worshippers ; but when 
Elijah called upon Jehovah fire came down from heaven, con- 
sumed the sacrifice, with the wood, and the earth, and the stones 
which composed the altar, and licked up the water round it. 
When the people saw this they fell on their faces and cried 
" Jehovah is God ! " Elijah exclaimed, " Seize the prophets of 
Baal ! let not one of them escape ! " He took them down to the 
brook of Kishon, and slew them all. The scene of this notable 
occurrence lies at the back of Carmel, and is visited by many 
travellers. Then the long wished for rain descended, and the 
drought was at an end. 

Ahab mounted his chariot and drove to his palace of Jezreel, 
but Elijah ran on before him and entered the city first. Jezebel 
swore to avenge her prophets by the death of their murderer, and 
Elijah had to fly and to hide himself. He lost confidence in his 
mission, and was deeply depressed until Jehovah appeared and 
comforted him. Yet he was a prophet indeed, and his words 
burnt like fire. 

The last years of Ahab were troubled with war. Benhadad, 
king of Damascus, overran Samaria. Ahab was, at first, pre- 
pared to submit ; but at last his spirit rose, and he 

Damascus summoned his warriors, 7000 strong, placed the 
young men of the provinces in the front rank, and 
began the battle. They made a sudden attack on Benhadad's 
camp, and the king escaped with difficulty. A similar attack 
was made in the following year, and Ahab, who had Benhadad 
in his power, spared his life and made a treaty with him, much 
against the wish of the prophets, who mistrusted him. Their 
mistrust was justified by Benhadad's refusal to surrender 
liamoth Gilead, one of the strong places which were to be given 



to537b.c] JEWISH HISTORY 61 

up according to the treaty ; upon which Ahab and Jehosophat 
levied war against him. The struggle resulted in the entire 
defeat of the allies. Ahab behaved with great personal valour, 
but was slain ; and when his chariot, which brought his body to 
►Samaria, was washed in the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up 
the blood which ran from it, in fulfilment of Elijah's prophecy. 

The good understanding between Israel and Judah continued 
under Jehoram, the son of Ahab, who succeeded his elder 
brother Ahaziah after he had reigned two years. He was 
defeated by Moab, which declared its independence ; and another 
Jehoram, of Judah, who succeeded his father Jehosophat, suffered 
similar treatment at the hands of Edom. Elijah was now suc- 
ceeded in his prophetic mission by Elisha. The 
revolt of Moab and Edom had stimulated Ben- 
hadad to activity, and he besieged Samaria, causing great misery 
in the town ; but he was driven ■ to sudden retreat by the 
approach of the king of Assyria, Shalmaneser II. A quarrel 
broke out between Jehoram and Elisha, who had at first 
been friends, probably owing to the influence of the queen- 
mother, Jezebel, who still continued to worship her Tyrian 
deities in Jezreel. Elisha returned to Damascus, where he 
cured Benhadad of a serious illness. But while he lay on 
his bed of sickness the king was treacherously murdered by 
Hazael, who took his place. Elisha stirred up Hazael to make 
war against Israel, and the battle took place at Ramoth Gilead. 
Jehoram betook himself, a sick and wounded man, to his palace 
at Jezreel. 

As King Jehoram lay ill in Jezreel, and Ahaziah, who had lately 
succeeded his father Jehoram as king of Judah, went to visit 
him, Elisha sent one of his prophets to the camp 
at Ramoth Gilead to anoint Jehu, the commander 
of the army, king of Israel. He was accepted by his generals, 
and drove in haste to Jezreel to establish his authority. He 
was met by Jehoram and Ahaziah, who, when they were aware 
of Jehu's treachery, turned and fled. Jehoram was slain by 
an arrow driven through his heart by Jehu's own hand, and 
Ahaziah, severely wounded, died at Megiddo and was buried 
at Jerusalem. As Jehu drove through the streets of Jezreel, 
Jezebel called out to him from the windows of the palace, 
" Had Zimri peace, who slew his master ? " Jehu ordered her to 
be thrown down, and the dogs licked up her blood. Jehu sullied 
his victory by the murder of seventy members of the royal 
family in Samaria, and exhibited their heads before the palace 



62 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

in Jezreel. Not content with this, he slaughtered all those who 
were in any way connected with the house of Ahab, and 
treated the brothers of Ahaziah in the same manner. He 
then, by an act of gross treachery, summoned the priests of 
Baal to a banquet, and when they were assembled put them 
all to the sword, pulling the house down over their heads. 
In return for this he was promised that his descendants should 
sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. In 
Judah, Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel and the 
a 1 ' mother of Ahaziah, determined upon vengeance. 
She seized the reins of government, and to secure her position 
murdered the whole of the royal family, excepting Joash, the 
infant son of Ahaziah, who was saved by his aunt. 

The reign of Jehu was worthy of its beginning — it was a 

time of disaster and disgrace. Israel became tributary to 

Revival of Shalmaneser II. of Assyria, and all the country 

Israel under in the land of Jordan from Aroer to Bashan fell 

Jeroboam into the hands of the king of Damascus. Matters 

**■ became still worse under his son Jehoash, and it 

was not till the accession of Joash and Jeroboam II. that the 

people began to recover confidence. The second of these kings 

subdued the Moabites, recovered the north and the east, and 

made friends with Damascus and Hamath. The people of Israel 

dwelt in their tents as in the days of old. The prophet of this 

age is the shepherd Amos. Athaliah retained for six years the 

blood-earned government which she had established in Judah, 

the only instance of female rule among the Hebrews. She 

favoured the worship of Baal and Ashur, and the tribes seem to 

have made little resistance. But the example of Israel was 

not without influence. Jehoiadah, the high priest, summoned 

the guards of the temple, exhibited to them the 

of e jo°aTh 10n y° un § Khig Joash, who had been so carefully 

preserved, and made a plan for his restoration. 

On a certain Sabbath, when the porch of the temple was 

crowded with people, Jehoiadah brought the boy into the 

temple and had him solemnly anointed. The guards proclaimed 

him king with the sound of the trumpet, and the people took 

up their cry. When Athaliah heard the noise of the shouting, 

she came into the temple, and saw Joash standing by a pillar 

with the crown upon his head. She called "Treason ! treason ! " 

and rent her clothes. The people forced her to return to the 

palace, where she was slain. They then made their way 

into the temple of Baal, murdered the priests, and destroyed 



to 537 b.c.] JEWISH HISTORY 63 

its sanctuaries with its statues and altars. Joash remained 
true to the old faith, and followed the advice and guidance 
of Jehoiadah. 

The young king, however, had his troubles. Hazael, king 
of Syria, summoned to the assistance of the Philistines in 
Gath, conquered Judah in the field, and pressed Jerusalem 
so hard that Joash was forced to buy him off with the treasure 
of the temple and the palace. So long as Jehoiadah lived, 
Joash kept in the good path, but after his death he fell into 
bad courses, and the worship of Baal began to raise its head. 
When Zachariah, the son of Jehoiadah, rebuked him for this, 
he caused him to be slain. Eventually Joash was murdered 
by two of his court officials, and was succeeded by his son 
Amaziah, who was twenty-five years of age. 

Amaziah was fond of war. He attacked the rebellious 
Edom, defeated the Edomites at Seir, and killed ten thousand 
prisoners. Elated with his victory, he sent 
a challenge to Joash, king of Israel, to fight 
against him. Joash was unwilling to accept it, but, Amaziah 
insisting, he defeated him at Bethshemesh, and took him 
prisoner. He pulled down part of the wall of Jerusalem, 
and carried off plunder and prisoners. Amaziah was released 
from captivity, but was shortly afterwards murdered. Uzziah, 
his son, succeeded at the age of sixteen, and had Uzziah's 
a prosperous reign, similar to that of his con- prosperous 
temporary, Jeroboam II. He restored the old Reign, 
religion, reorganised the army, and rebuilt the portion of 
the town which had been destroyed. With his invigorated 
host he subdued the Edomites, reduced the Bedouins to order, 
and restored the arsenal of Eziongeber on the Red Sea. He 
fought against the Philistines, and captured Gath and Ashdod. 
Indeed, he extended the frontiers of the kingdom farther than 
those of David. He favoured commerce and agriculture. His 
fame spread far and near 1 , even to Egypt ; but all this prosperity 
and glory did not prevent the prophets Amos, Hosea, and 
Isaiah from thundering against the corruption of their country. 
Uzziah was succeeded by his son Jotham, who followed in 
his father's footsteps. 

The fortunes of the northern kingdom were in strong con- 
trast to this prosperity of Judah. Zachariah, the son of Jero- 
boam II., the last survivor of the house of Jehu, was murdered 
after a reign of six months, and his murderer Shallum was 
slain after a month's reign by the bloodthirsty Menahem. The 



64 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

country was in a condition of anarchy ; it was threatened by 
the Syrians on one side and by the Philistines on the other; foreign 
Anarchy kelp was necessary to secure order, which some 
in the wished to obtain from Egypt, others from As- 

Northern syria. Menahem determined for Assyria, and 
Kingdom, procured the assistance of Pul, by the payment 
of a hundred talents of silver and the promise of a yearly 
tribute. We learn the terrible condition of these times from 
the denunciations of the prophet Hosea. Menahem was suc- 
ceeded by his son Pekahiah, who, after a reign of two years, 
was murdered by one of his officers, named Pekah, who ascended 
the throne of Samaria. The evils of his reign are denounced 
in the prophecies of Zechariah. 

King Pekah of Samaria, to resist the threatened onslaught of 
the Assyrians, made an alliance with King Rezin of Damascus, 
Pekah Du t> instead of drawing Judah into the alliance 

attacks against the common enemy, preferred to reduce her 
Judah. to the condition of a vassal state. King Jotham 
did his best to withstand this intention, assisted by the fiery 
patriotism of the great prophet Isaiah. But on the succession 
of his son Ahaz, matters took a different turn. While the 
Syrians wasted all the country on the east as far as the Dead 
Sea, Pekah broke in on the west, and carried women and 
children, with much plunder, to Samaria. The Philistines 
occupied Bethshemesh, Ajalon, and Timna, and the Edomites 
made raids upon the south. Ahaz, the first king of Judah who 
exhibited a doubt as to the saving power of Jehovah, not only 
offered sacrifices to the gods who were assisting his enemies, 
but sacrificed his own son to Moloch. He did even worse than 
this by calling in the Assyrians against his enemies. He sent 
Ahaz in- a ^ ^he g' 01 ^ anc ^ silver out of the temple and the 
vokes the palace to the king of Assyria, and said to him, 
aid of "I am your servant and your son : come down and 

Assyria. help me out of the hand of my enemies, who have 
arisen against me." Tiglath Pileser answered to his call, con- 
quered Damascus, killed King Rezin, and carried off the inhabi- 
tants whom he made prisoners to the river Kur in Media. He 
then transported nearly half of the ten tribes, Naphthali in the 
north and Gilead in the east, partly across the Euphrates into 
Mesopotamia, and partly to the cradle land of the Assyrians 
beyond the Tigris. While the Ammonites took possession of the 
deserted districts, Pekah ruled over what remained as vassal 
of the king of Assyria, until he fell a victim to a conspiracy. 



to 537 b.c.] JEWISH HISTORY 65 

Ahaz hastened to Damascus to ask the Assyrian king for his 
assistance, and robbed the temple at Jerusalem of its remain- 
ing treasures in order to reward him. He went so far as to 
establish the form of Assyrian worship in the holy city. The 
Jews were forced to become sun worshippers. The indignation 
of Isaiah was powerless to stop these abuses. 

Under Shalmaneser, the successor of Tiglath Pileser, matters 
became worse. He subdued a large portion of the Phoenician 
coast, but he could not succeed in taking the End of the 
island of Tyre, which resisted his efforts. Hosea, Northern 
the son of the murdered Pekah, was stimulated by Kingdom, 
the Tyrians to stop the tribute paid every year to Nineveh and 
enter into negotiations with Egypt, then under the rule of an 
Ethiopian dynasty. The Egyptians, who saw with dread the 
growing power of Nineveh, used the Jews as a convenient buffer 
to stop its advance. Isaiah, with statesmanlike insight, fore- 
saw that the might of Assyria was irresistible, that 
Phoenicia and Ephraim must fall before it, and saiah and 
that even Egypt could not stand against it. 
The result of this was to make Hezekiah, who had succeeded 
Ahaz, cautious in his proceedings. When Shalmaneser heard 
of the intrigues of Hosea, he hastened back to Samaria and 
threw him into prison. The people rose in rebellion, indignant 
at the treatment of their king. Sargon took Samaria after a 
three years' siege, and the people were either enslaved or 
banished. Some were sent to Egypt, or to Europe ; some were 
sold into slavery, or were carried off to Assyria. Samaria was 
occupied by new inhabitants. It is probable, however, that 
more of the original population remained behind than is actually 
recorded in history. 

While this was the fate of Israel, the southern kingdom 
enjoyed thirty years' rest under the government of Hezekiah, 
assisted by the advice of Isaiah. Sargon was 
succeeded by Sennacherib in 705 B.C., and under Assyrian 
him the Assyrians proceeded to new conquests. 
They subdued Cilicia, they overthrew Philistia to the frontiers 
of Egypt, they conquered the Arabian tribes to the south and 
east of Jordan. Hezekiah strengthened Jerusalem against 
the threatened attack, repaired the walls, strengthened Millo, 
and built an aqueduct. Then he withheld the yearly tribute 
paid to Nineveh, and sent to Egypt for assistance. Isaiah was 
entirely opposed to these proceedings, and the event proved 
him to be right. Sennacherib hastened to exact vengeance for 



66 A GENERAL HISTORY [c. 2000 b.c. 

this treachery. Hezekiah tried to buy him off with all the 
treasure that he could collect, but in vain. Sennacherib in- 
sisted on the surrender of the capital, and Rabshekeh, the 
Sennacherib king's chief butler, was sent with a division to 
threatens attack the city. Then followed the wonderful 
Jerusalem. catastrophe which fired the imagination of the 
Jewish chroniclers and is immortalised in the verse of Byron. 
The insults heaped by Rabshekeh on the power of Jehovah 
roused the wrath of the Jewish population and the patriotism 
of Israel. Hezekiah took Sennacherib's letter into the temple, 
and invoked the assistance of his God, not in vain. Just as 
inevitable destruction seemed impending over the holy city, the 
invading army disappeared as if by magic. The retreat was 
probably due to the news that Nineveh itself was threatened, 
but we cannot wonder if future generations ascribed the 
marvellous salvation to the hand of an avenging angel Avho 
wrought destruction upon the invading army. 

In the year 697 B.C., Hezekiah was succeeded by his son 
Manasseh, a boy of twelve years old, who occupied the throne 

for fifty years. He deserted the religion of 
a ' Jehovah for the worship of the sun. He per- 

secuted the prophets who resisted him. This produced a 
condition of civil strife which exhausted the strength of the 
country, and we are told that Manasseh was carried off to 
Babylon in chains, but the historical dates of these events are 
not very trustworthy. The worship of Jahve revived again 

under the reign of Josiah, the son of Ammon 
eign anc | g ranc | son f Manasseh, a child of eight years 

old, whose reign lasted from 640 to 609. In his 
reign occurred an invasion of the savage Scythians, who laid 
land and cities waste, and drove the inhabitants of Canaan to 
take refuge in caves and forests, a prophecy recorded in the 
writings of Zephaniah. In his reign also the book of the law, 
which had been lost, was found by the high priest Hilkiah, 
in the temple, and was read to the people, who entered into a 
solemn agreement to observe its precepts. The spirit of this 
reform is to be found in the book of Deuteronomy. 

Unfortunately these reforms were hindered by the outbreak 
of new wars. Assyria was hastening to its fall. The Medes 

and the Chaldeans were advancing against it, 
wr Hri threatening Nineveh. Josiah took advantage of 

the opportunity to recover Samaria, and to restore 
the worship of Jahve. At the same time, Egypt began to 



to 537 b.c] JEWISH HISTORY 67 

extend itself under Necho, and Josiah endeavoured to check 
him. A great battle took place in the plain of Megiddo, and 
Josiah was entirely defeated. The king was mortally wounded, 
and carried, as a corpse, in a chariot to Jerusalem. The 
prophet Jeremiah wrote lamentations over him which re- 
mained long in the mouth and memory of the prophets. This 
was indeed the end. Josiah was succeeded by his judah 
younger son Shallum, but when Necho heard of subject to 
it he summoned him to his camp at Eiblah and Egypt. 
sent him in chains to Egypt, where he remained for the rest 
of his life. He was succeeded by his elder brother, Eliakim, 
who, taking the name of Jehoiakim, reigned as a humble 
vassal of Necho. The king of Babylon was now Nebuchadnezzar, 
who, in the year 606, had entirely defeated Necho in the battle 
of Carchemish. As soon as he had leisure he E .., . 
directed his force against Canaan and besieged Carchemish 
Jerusalem. Jehoiakim died, and was followed — Judah 
by his son, who is called by the double name of subject to 
Jehoiachin or Jeconiah. After three months he Bab y lon - 
fell into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, who carried him off to 
Babylon, and then plundered Jerusalem not only of the trea- 
sure which remained in it, but of all its able-bodied popu- 
lation, 7000 in number, its armourers, smiths, and carpenters, 
its priests and prophets, amongst whom was Ezekiel. The 
miserable relics of the nation were enlisted to the cause of 
Josiah's third son, Mataniah, under the name of Zedekiah, who 
took the oaths and preferred the security of vassalage. 

The great prophet of this unhappy age was Jeremiah. As 
the material power of Judah sank, her spiritual strength and 

insight rose to a height of fervour which has Jeremiah 

since dominated the religious minds of all End of the 
ages, a striking evidence of the fact that matter Kingdom of 
is indeed nothing, but spirit is everything. Judah. 
Egypt now began to raise her head under King Hophra, who 
entered into communication with Zedekiah and stimulated him 
to rebellion. Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who was in exile, sup- 
ported him in this policy, but Nebuchadnezzar was prompt in 
action. He invaded Judah with a large army, and laid siege 
to Jerusalem. Jeremiah prophesied failure, but the Jews con- 
tinued their resistance. All was in vain. Zedekiah fled from the 
city by night, but was captured in the plain of Jericho. A 
large number of Jews went to Egypt, accompanied by Jeremiah, 
who, however, had protested against this exodus into Egypt 



68 A GENERAL HISTORY [to 537 b.c. 

instead of out of it. A residence near Pelusium was assigned 
to them by Hophra ; many of them also settled in Memphis. 
Five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, the few Jews 
who remained there joined the Ammonites and Moabites in an 
attack on the Chaldeans of Phoenicia, but they were entirely 
defeated, and the ruin of the country was complete. Jeremiah 
spent the rest of his days in Egypt, and it is said that he met 
his death by being stoned by his countrymen. 

We must now turn to the exiles in Babylon. It is not 
known what became of the ten tribes of Israel. England, 
The Jews America, and many other places have been put 
restored by forward as the seat of their refuge, but it is 
Cyrus. certain only that, wherever they went, they lost all 

traces of their origin. After the fall of Babylon, Cyrus sent 
the Jews of the southern kingdom back to their country. 
Ezra tells us that the train consisted of 736 horses, 245 mules, 
435 camels, and 6720 asses. They set out in the year 537, 
forty-eight years after the destruction of Jerusalem — 42,361 
free people, 7337 servants, all under the leadership of Zerub- 
babel. Some members of the ten tribes may have accom- 
panied them. After six months' travel, they reached the holy 
city. They found their country deserted, but their first care 
was to rebuild their temple and to create a new Jerusalem. 
The Samarians offered to take part, but they were not allowed 
to do so. The restoration took many years under different 
leaders, and the work was not completed until the middle of 
the fifth century before Christ, chiefly by the exertions of 
Nehemiah and Ezra. 



CHAPTER V. 

MEDES AND PERSIANS.— GEEECE AND THE PERSIAN 
WARS, 780-479 B.C. 

The centre of the Iranian tableland is a great salt desert with- 
out drinkable water, and without habitation, very hot in summer, 
and almost uninhabitable. Agriculture is only 
possible in a few places where there is water. i an d flran. 
In other parts, Iran is only habitable on its edges. 
A large portion of it has been scarcely visited by Europeans. 
The district inhabited by the Persians is of a different char- 
acter. It has a moderate temperature, and plenty of rain. 
An ancient traveller says of it : " Here reigns a mild climate : 
the country is full of plants and well irrigated meadows. It 
bears plenty of wine and all other plants, except the olive. It 
possesses fruitful pleasure gardens ; rivers with clear water and 
lakes irrigate the land. Horses are bred there, and beasts of 
burden, and the woods are full of wild animals." The most impor- 
tant of the Persian races were the Pasargadae, the Maraphians, 
and the Maspians, living mainly in " hollow Persis "—that is, in 
the valley of the Araxes and its tributary the Cyrus. The religion 
of Zarathrusta, the Zendavesta, became the property of all the 
settled tribes. On the other hand, the worship of Mazda was 
introduced into Media in the eighth century. The Magi were 
a priestly cast of the Medians. They practised the custom of 
having their dead consumed by dogs and vultures, whereas the 
Persians buried their kings. The Persians make their appear- 
ance in history at the beginning of the sixth century. In 596, 
the AchamenidTheispes,of thetribeof the Pasarga- 
dae, conquered a large part of Elam, with its capital , Me( j es 

Susa. It became subject to the Median kings, 
of whom Deioces founded in 780 the capital Ecbatana, and was 
succeeded by Phraates, Cyaxares, and Astyages. In 553, Cyrus 
the son of Cambyses rose against Astyages, overthrew the 
Median empire, and, in a little more than ten years, subdued 
the whole of Asia Minor. His son Cambyses added the valley 



70 A GENERAL HISTORY [780 b.c. to 

of the Nile to his possessions. An attempted usurpation of the 
Magi, which threatened the existence of the Persian empire, 
was put clown by Darius, who grasped the reins of government 
with a firm hand. 

There is no doubt that Persia was a mighty and well governed 
empire, as may be gathered from the impression which it 

made on men like Aeschylus, Herodotus, and 
EmT>ire rSian Xenophon, w ho saw it at its prime. The sovereign 

was undoubtedly the king of kings. Aeschylus 
says that he might claim to reign over all men from sunrise to 
sunset, and evidently considers him the monarch of the whole 
world. And it was the maxim of the dynasty, as taught by 
Ahuramazda, to practise right and punish wrong — to reward 
friends and chastise enemies. The Medes held the first 
place in the empire next to the Persians. Cyrus adopted the 
Median dress and ceremonial. Ecbatana was a residence of 
the great king. It was soon found that Susa, in the fertile 
plain of Elam, was the best site for the seat of government. 
The custom was to dwell in Ecbatana during the hot summer 
months, to remove to Babylon for the winter, and to pass the 
spring in Susa. But Persia always remained a national state. 
However far its kings might reside from their native country, 
however motley a crowd of nations they might rule over, they 
never forgot whence they came. They were always buried in Per- 
sepolis. Autocratic sovereigns, they were attended by a council, 
who were treated with great honour. Indeed, the members 
may have considered themselves as the equals of the king. 
Judges were appointed by the king, and the office was some- 
times hereditary. The first duty of a Persian was to love his 
king. Every capable man obeyed the king's summons to arms — 
the rich man on horseback, the poor man on foot. The young 
Persian nobles were educated at the court, not only in manly 
exercises, but in the arts of government. The duty placed 
before them was to do right, and to speak the truth. At twenty 
years of age, they entered either the army or the public service. 
The king became very rich and spent freely, giving to his 
friends not only money but independent military commands 
„. and portions of territory. The Persians were a 

people healthy, strong and beautiful, religious, 
brave and loyal, generous and merciful in war, in contrast to the 
brutal Semites. Although they were fond of wine, they only 
had one meal a day. They had a special horror of debts and 
lies. The kings were not regarded as gods like the Pharaohs 



479 b.c.] MEDES AND PERSIANS 7* 

in Egypt, but they stood high above their subjects. Their re- 
lative position was that of master and slave. Before the king, 
the subjects threw themselves into the dust. Any one speaking 
to him had to conceal his hands : the slave who worked his 
punkah was not allowed to^ breathe upon him. He wore a 
highly raised tiara. He dined alone, except on feast days. 
He always appeared in a carriage with a large escort. The 
days of his birth and his accession were kept as holidays, cele- 
brated with huge banquets with compulsory attendance. In 
a lion hunt, any one throwing a spear before the king was 
punished by death. He had a large harem. Marriage between 
near relations being considered honourable, it was common 
for him to marry his own sister. Darius married several of 
the daughters of Cyrus, and one of them, Atossa, who had 
previously married Cambyses, was the mother of the crown 
Prince. There was a very large court and a number of eunuchs. 
The King's personal doctor generally came from Egypt or from 
Greece. The kings had large domains called parks, or paradises, 
which are frequently mentioned in Xenophon. 

Government was administered by a huge bureaucracy. In 
all important discussions, the king was assisted by seven 
councillors. The king was the supreme judge, System of 
the fountain of punishments and of rewards. The Govern- 
highest honour was to be styled a " benefactor," merit, 
to receive a robe of honour and a horse of honour, together 
with land and subjects in private property. A law once pro- 
mulgated by the king could not be altered. The government 
was carried on, according to the old oriental practice, in writing. 
The official language was Persian, but other languages were 
employed in different districts, for instance, in the west 
Aramaic, which had taken the place of Aryan as the language 
of commerce and diplomacy. In contrast to the numerous small 
provinces of the Assyrian empire, Cyrus established large pro- 
vinces, governed by satraps, called in Babylonish, pashas. 

Cyrus divided Lydia into two provinces with the respective 
capitals of Sardis and Daskylium. Media was also formed into 
two satrapies ; Armenia formed one ; Egypt, to- 
gether with Libya and Crete, formed a single a a f ra nies 
province. The satraps had to provide for order 
and security in their provinces, to put clown any attempt at re- 
bellion, to punish thieves and robbers. Cyrus' greatest praise 
for a satrap was when any man might travel through his district 
wherever he pleased without danger. He was the chief judge 



72 A GENERAL HISTORY [780 b.c. to 

in civil and criminal matters. He had also to raise the taxes, 
and to see that land was properly cultivated. To exercise 
these functions, he had troops of his own and a sturdy body- 
guard. Indeed, his position was almost royal, and was fre- 
quently hereditary. The court of the satrap was a copy of the 
court of the king, and was very large. When Nehemiah, 
in 445 B.C., was governor of the small province of Judaea, a 
hundred and fifty prominent Jews dined at his table, and 
there was provided for them a bullock and six sheep, as well 
as bread and wine. The satrap of Babylonia had a stable of 
16,000 mares and 800 stallions, and four villages for the support 
of his hounds. 

We must not overlook the fact that, in the Greek republics 
under Persian influence, the government was in the hands of 
The Greek a resident, called by the Greeks a tyrant, that 
Subjects of is, irresponsible ruler, who for his own interest, 
Persia. combined with the interests of Persia, secured the 

obedience of the community. He paid the tribute to the 
empire, and commanded the ;irmy and navy, but in other 
respects the community was left to govern itself. These re- 
publics had their own coinage, weights, and measures ; they had 
their own town council and could levy taxes at their pleasure, 
and their own troops. But the Persians gradually rased their 
walls. They possessed a limited autonomy, but they could not 
forget that they were not really free. 

An important mark of civilisation was the existence of the 
great roads which met at Susa. The chief of them was the 

_ , Kind's Road which led from Ephesus and Sardis 

Roads ■ • 

to the capital. It was an ancient road of com- 
merce, which, starting from Sardis, in the valley of the Hermon, 
passed on to the table-land of northern Phrygia, and then over 
the Halys to Pteria in Cappadocia : then, crossing the Euphrates, 
it went through Armenia and Assyria, and then along the 
Tigris to Susa. Another road went from Babylonia through the 
Zagros mountains to Lebanon, and thence to the frontiers of 
Bactria and India. These roads were measured by parasangs, 
and were kept in good repair. On the King's Road there were, 
at equal distances, posting houses and inns. Gates also were 
erected at convenient places, so that no one could pass without 
being recognised. The king's orders were conveyed by pos- 
tilions riding day and night ; " quicker than horses," as the 
Greeks say. There was also telegraphic communication by fire 
signal. The satraps were not left to themselves, but were kept 



479 b.c] MEDES AND PERSIANS 73 

in order by inspectors, called the king's eyes, men of high rank 
who paid unexpected visits. There was, undoubtedly, an ela- 
borate system of espionage, but the empire was held together 
by a strong feeling of national pride. So long as the king 
commanded the confidence of his nobles and his people, he was 
certain to be obeyed by his troops. 

The Persian empire united in itself two methods of using 
gold and silver as means of exchange, one employing coins, the 
other bars of metal, or rings and other pieces . 

which could be weighed. Coins were, after a 
great struggle, introduced in Phoenicia and Carthage, but 
were scarcely found at all in Egypt and Babylon. After 
all, coins had only a legal circulation in the places where they 
were coined : elsewhere they must be valued by weight, and 
the bars were almost equally serviceable. In other parts 
barter alone prevailed. We find coins used on the Indian 
frontier, but in Persia itself money was very scarce, and was 
only found in large gold pieces. Coinage began with pieces of 
gold and electrum which could be easily carried about : the 
making of coins of a smaller value belongs to a later period. 
Into these arrangements Darius introduced a thorough reform. 
He made a new gold coin, a stater, of the value of a little more 
than a sovereign. It showed the image of the king on his 
knees shooting from a bow. Besides this there was a silver 
shekel of the value of a little more than a shilling, twenty silver 
shekels making one gold daric. The silver mina contained a 
hundred silver shekels or five darics, and was worth something 
more than five pounds. The silver talent was worth three 
hundred darics, and ten silver talents were equal to one gold 
talent, which was worth about =£3500. Gold became the 
standard in the Persian system of coinage, and this had a great 
influence over the whole of the civilised world. Copper was 
coined according to the requirements of each town. 

The subjects of the crown naturally paid taxes. Herodotus 
tells us that in the days of Cyrus and Cambyses the amount of 
the tribute was not fixed, but the subjects brought 
presents as they pleased. The government was 
assisted by the huge amount of spoil derived from successful 
wars. Darius saw that a different system was required, and 
that an organised taxation was necessary. He therefore de- 
termined the tribute to be paid by each of the twenty large 
satrapies, which depended upon the value of their respective 
territories. Herodotus reckons that the whole of the tribute paid 



74 A GENERAL HISTORY [780 b.c. to 

amounted to about a talent a day, that is, about,£l ,250,000 a year. 
But tribute paid in kind was not given up. Cappadocia gave 
every year 1500 horses, 2000 mules, and 50,000 sheep ; Media 
about twice as much. Besides this, presents were made of 
carpets, robes, tents, sofas, gold and silver vessels, thousands of 
arms, beasts of burden, vegetables, silk, and pickled meat. 
Besides these resources the crown also took tolls for the use of 
the roads, and the products of mines and forests. The tribute 
thus paid was kept in treasure-houses, the gold and silver being 
cast in ingots. The expenses of the court were enormous. 
Fifteen hundred persons dined at the king's table every day : a 
thousand animals were slaughtered daily for the king, and their 
carcases divided amongst his guests. What they could not eat 
they took home. A name for a Persian official was one who ate 
the king's bread and salt. 

The present population of the Asiatic provinces of Persia is 
about thirty-five millions, but in ancient times it was un- 
doubtedly larger. If we add the six or seven 
r * ' millions of Egypt, the empire cannot have held 
less than fifty millions. On the other hand, the inhabitants 
of Persia itself, that is, the province of Persis, did not exceed 
half a million. The general rule of the Persians under Cyrus 
over their subjects was mild and tolerant, like that of the 
British in India. The practice of the transplantation of whole 
populations from one district to another, which was common 
amongst the Assyrians and Babylonians, was seldom exercised, 
and when it was, the people, like the Jews, were frequently sent 
back again. In religious matters, great regard 
Religious was f e lt for the native beliefs. Cyrus told the 
Policy. Babylonians that he regarded Marduk of Babel as 

their king. Cambyses and Darius performed sacrifice in the 
temples of Babylon and Egypt. Sacrifices were made in the 
name of the Persian king to the God of the Jews, to the gods 
of Greece, and to all the gods of the surrounding tribes. They 
not only believed and favoured the religions of their subjects, 
but they built and endowed temples for their gods. This policy 
of toleration, which now forms a part of every wise government 
of dependencies, undoubtedly began with Cyrus. He gave 
back to the Jews the vessels of the temple, which had been 
plundered by Nebuchadnezzar, and he ordered it to be rebuilt. 
Artaxerxes gave privileges to the Jewish priesthood, and estab- 
lished their authority over the people. Darius had already done 
the same in Egypt. 



479 b.c.] MEDES AND PERSIANS 75 

It was against this mighty empire, thus firmly constituted, 
that the Greeks had to exercise their strength. Since the fall 
of the Lydian empire, the Greeks of Asia Minor Maritime 
had been subjects of the Persians. Samos had Power of 
been captured by Darius, Barka by Aryandes. Persia. 
The eastern part of the Mediterranean had become a Persian 
lake. The ships of the peoples of the coast were combined into 
a great imperial navy, in which Phoenicians and Greeks vied 
with each other for the favour of the great king. Miletus was 
now the chief of the Ionian island cities, and was governed by 
Histiaeus, who was the leader of the Greek contingent in the 
war against Scythia. He was considered to be the most trust- 
worthy of all the Persian vassals, a position due to his faithful 
guardianship of the bridge over the Danube. It would indeed 
have been madness if he had acted otherwise. His object was 
to pass as the foremost man in the Greek world. The king, 
warned by Megabazus, invited him to the court, and his place 
was taken by his son-in-law, Aristagoras. 

In order to make our narrative clear we must now go 
backwards. The Medes had remained for five hundred years 
under the rule of the Assyrians, chiefly famous 
for their breeding of horses, when, as we have 
already mentioned, theyjdeclared in 780 their independence under 
Deioces, and built a new capital, Ecbatana. His successor 
Phraates (655-633) continued the struggle against the Assyrians, 
but was defeated. Under the rule of his son, Cyaxares (633- 
593), Media was devastated by Scythian nomads, 
and kept in subjection for twenty-eight years. 
But Cyaxares not only succeeded in getting rid of the invaders, 
but in 606 B.C., in conjunction with Nabupolasser, king of 
Babylon, he destroyed Nineveh and thereby increased his own 
possessions. He is regarded as the founder of the new Median 
empire. He subdued the Persians who resided in Pasargadae 
and Persepolis, and extended his dominions as far as the Halys. 
His successor Astyages (593-529) married his daughter Man- 
dane to a Persian prince, and their son Cyrus (558-529) was 
the founder of the Persian empire, of which we have already 
given a description. 

In 549, Cyrus crossed the Halys and captured Sardis, the 
capital of Lydia, which was governed by the wealthy Croesus, 
the friend of the Athenian lawgiver Solon, who had warned 
Croesus against the instability of human fortunes. The con- 



76 A GENERAL HISTORY [780-479 b.c. 

quest of Lydia made him master of the Greek settlements in 

Asia Minor. He then turned his attention to Babylon, which 

Conquests ^ e SUD dued in the reign of Belshazzar, other- 

of Cyrus wise known as ISTabonetus, and became master 

and Cam- of Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia. This was in 

byses. 539 B c ^g wa y ^ Egypt now lay open before 

him, but his designs against it were interrupted by another 

invasion of the Scythians ; he fell at the river Jaxartes in a 

battle against the Massagetes, and the conquest of Egypt was 

left to his son Cambyses (529-523). He was succeeded by 

Darius (522-485), but before mounting the throne Darius had 

to put down a rebellion of the Medes, who set up one of their 

number as a false Smerdis to represent the brother of Cambyses, 

who had been murdered by him. Darius was the son of 

Hystaspes, an Achaemenid noble. He strengthened his position 

by marrying Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, and his admirable 

government of his dominions has been already related. 

The narrow strait of the Bosphorus and Hellespont made no 
halting place for a conqueror's enterprise, and Darius now 
Darius carried his operations into Europe. Miltiades of 
invades the Chersonesus became his vassal : the Greek 
Europe. towns on the Black Sea submitted. Although the 
Scythian enterprise was a failure, Darius succeeded in organis- 
ing the Greek towns on the southern coast of Thrace. Byzan- 
tium, Chalcedon, and Antandros were conquered by the fleet of 
Otones. Lemnos and Melos were subdued : the army of Mega- 
bazus occupied Perinthus and the northern coast of the Aegean. 
The Persians acquired the fruitful country of the Strymon, 
with the gold mines of Pangaeus and the silver mines of Dysorus. 
Amyntas, king of Macedon,was forced to give earth and water 
to the great king. The Persians strengthened their possessions 
with numerous forts. An attack upon Greece became imminent, 
and we must now consider in what condition that country was 
when it had to undergo the trial. 



HISTORY OF GREECE TO 479 B.C. 

There is no doubt that the Greeks came into the country 
occupied by them from the north, but the accounts usually 

The Early given of the division of their tribes and of subse- 

Inhabitants quent invasions is of little or no historical value. 

of Greece. When they arrived in the Balkan peninsula they 
were nomads. Flocks of sheep and goats were their most 



1300 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 77 

precious possessions, giving them milk, cheese, and clothing. 
They were divided into tribes, each governed by a king who 
was both judge and leader in war, and was assisted by a 
council of old men, who stood between him and the assembly of 
the free people. Their first advance in civilisation came from 
their connection with the East, and gave rise to what is known 
as the culture of the Mycenean age, which 
undoubtedly was derived from that of Troy, and Myce- 

is deeply penetrated by the influence of Egypt 
and Babylon. The first place among the princes of the 
Mycenean epoch was occupied by the rulers of the Argive 
plain, the chief towns of which are Mycenae, Troezen, and, espe- 
cially, Argos. Next came the lords of Thebes and Orchomenus, 
and also Thessaly. Athens and the eastern coast of Greece 
occupied a position by themselves. The Trojan war, whatever 
may have been its cause, exhibits Mycenean civilisation at its 
highest point. Without this it would have been impossible for 
an expedition of such magnitude, composed of heterogeneous 
elements, to take place at all, still less to have a successful 
result. Military expeditions were also undertaken against 
Sardinia and Egypt. 

To this succeeds the age of Greek colonisation. New homes 
had to be found for the surplus population of a niggardly 
country, and the extension could only be made by 
sea. The first great stream of Greek colonisation colonie 1 
belongs to the Mycenean period, following the 
usual course into the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. 
The settlements in Cyprus are the natural consequences of the 
expeditions against Egypt and Syria in the thirteenth and twelfth 
centuries. Cyprus owes its civilisation partly to its mines of 
copper, partly to its position between Asia Minor and Phoenicia, 
and not far from the mouth of the Nile ; early mariners who 
needed to rest in a safe harbour every night could not neglect 
so convenient a halting-place. In Cyprus, the culture of the 
East and West mingled as they did nowhere else. We do not 
know where its inhabitants originally came from. We find 
there Trojan, Babylonian, and Hittite influences. The king of 
Cyprus also paid tribute to Pharaoh, and it was undoubtedly 
closely connected with Syria. At the same time it played no 
merely passive part, but exercised a considerable influence over 
both Syria and Greece. Another stream of colonisation proceeded 
from northern Greece, stretched in the first instance towards 
Lesbos, the colonists bearing the name of Aeolians, the origin of 



78 A GENERAL HISTORY [1300 b.c. to 

which is unknown to us. Another stream consisting of Ionians 
came from Middle Greece, and occupied the islands of the 
Aegean and the coast near to them. It is generally agreed 
that they proceeded mainly from Athens, but it is probable that 
other parts of Greece were associated with her. We may lay 
down as a general truth that the first epoch of Greek colonisa- 
tion should be placed in the years 1300-1100 B.C. It is the 
culmination and also the close of the first period of Greek 
history. 

The next fact that meets us is an invasion from the north, 
known in legends as the return of Heracleidae and in history as 

the Dorian invasion of the Peloponnesus. The 
e onan Dorians are believed to have been originally 

settled in northern Thessaly, and this is prob- 
ably true, but whether they entered the Peloponnesus as a 
body or filtered into it gradually, it is difficult to say. At any 
rate, from their time dates a new era. The power of nobles 
and of certain select families increases ; towns and municipal 
governments make their appearance ; kings of the old type 
disappear, and their place is taken by an aristocracy. A new 
kind of colonisation appears which we may place in the eighth 
century, directed towards the Hellespont, Pontus, and Cilicia, 
as well as to Sicily and Italy. A new era begins in the seventh 
century. The democracy and the power of the towns become 
developed ; the military state of Sparta arises ; new laws are 
passed corresponding to new social exigencies. Literature 
reaches a high standard of excellence, in the elegy, in Iambic 
verse, and in lyric poetry. We find also tyrants or autocratic 
sovereigns in Ionia and the Lydian empire, in Corinth, Sicyon, 

and Megara. This is the age of Solon, who, be- 

coming archon at Athens in 594 B.C., found himself 
entrusted with the duty of solving the question of a new social 
order, and drawing up a new code of laws. The future of the 
country lay in his hands. He is the first Greek statesman with 
whose personality we are well acquainted, and he has left an 
account of himself in his own poems. Above everything, he 
sought after moderation. He was no radical, but an intelligent 
statesman who knew what he wanted to obtain, and the way to 
obtain it. He enjoyed unbroken cheerfulness and power of 
enjoyment to an advanced age. His first duty was to rescue 
the peasantry from a condition of hopeless debt. He abolished 
all debts which were secured on the land or on the person of 
the debtor, and declared them illegal for the future. He also 



479 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 79 

bought back at the public cost many citizens who had been sold 
into foreign countries. These proceedings were revolutionary, 
but they were carried out without bloodshed. The democracy 
would have preferred a division of the country and the plunder- 
ing of the great land-owners, but Solon left them in the posses- 
sion of their estates, though, at the same time, limiting their use 
of them. 

To this period also belongs a further stage of Greek colonisa- 
tion, and the foundation of the power of the Carthaginians and 
the Etruscans. The most important colonies were 
founded in the Black Sea. The towns of " Great Co i e oni gg e 
Greece " in Italy, on the coast of Naples, as well 
as Cyrene, entered upon a period of great prosperity. Sybaris, 
Croton, and Metapontum became world renowned. Milo, the 
prize-fighter, was the special glory of Crotona, having gained 
thirty-one prizes in the four national games, and, indeed, no 
town in Greece possessed so many Olympic victors. Sybaris 
did its best, but probably preferred spiritual to animal culture, 
and from this the name Sybarite has come, very unjustly, to 
be used as a term of reproach. A similar development took 
place in Sicily. Agrigentum was founded in 580 B.C., and the 
whole south coast fell into the hands of Dorian colonists. A 
great part of the west coast of Italy fell into the hands of the 
Etruscans, so that the sea which washed it re- Q ree jj S 
ceived the name of Tyrrhenian. They made con- Cartha- 
tinual war on the Greeks. They aimed at the ginians, and 
possession of Corsica, as the Carthaginians aimed Etruscans, 
at Sardinia. These two powers formed an alliance, and in the 
year 540 B.C. made a joint attack on the colony of Alalia in 
Corsica, which had been founded by the Phocaeans. Although 
the event of the battle was doubtful, the Phocaeans were com- 
pelled to evacuate their town, and retreated to Rhegium in the 
south of Italy. The battle of Alalia was the first important 
blow struck against the development of Hellenism, and the 
Phocaeans, who had founded Marseilles, fell from their high 
position. 

While the Carthaginians, the Etruscans, and the Dorian cities 
in Sicily were contending together in unrest, the East, in the 
middle of the sixth century, seemed to be in a 
condition which promised a long duration of 55 Q B( f 
peace, as the large powers had found a condition 
of equilibrium. The advance of the Medes had been stopped by 
Nebuchadnezzar ; peace reigned between Egypt and Babylon ; 



So A GENERAL HISTORY [1300 B .o. to 

Amasis had returned from the conquest of Syria. The develop- 
ment of Sardis under Alyattes and Croesus had reached its 
goal : Miletus was at the height of its prosperity, which was 
shared by Mitylene, Chios, Samos, and Rhodes. Attica was 
extending her territory, having incorporated Eleusis, annexed 
Salamis, and established herself in the Hellespont. Sparta 
was aiming at supremacy in the Peleponnesus, chiefly by its 
victory over Tegea. Indeed, the military community of Sparta 
was by far the strongest power in the Greek world, and foreign 
powers began to make alliances with it. Croesus sent gold 
for a statue of Apollo, and Amasis a breastplate ; both powers 
desired the assistance of Sparta for their wars in Asia. 

Cyrus rose against the Medes in 553, and in 550 Astyages 

fell into his hand. All the powers banded themselves against 

the upstart — Neboned of Babylon, Amasis of 

"Risp of . 

Persia -Egypt, Croesus of Lydia, who had secured the 

help of the Spartans. In 546, Croesus advanced 
into Cappadocia, with an army as yet unconquered. Cyrus 
drove him back, and followed him, and, before" any of his allies 
could come to his assistance, completely defeated him, the 
Lydian cavalry being terrified at the Persian camels. A fort- 
night later, Croesus fell into the hands of Cyrus, and the great 
Lydian empire was at an end. This is one of the great crises 
Fall of the of history. Croesus, the noble, benevolent, gener- 
Lydian ous prince, suddenly fell from his elevation, and 

Empire. remained ever afterwards to the Greeks an em- 

blem of the mutability of fortune. The result was that, about 
545 B.C., the whole of the mainland of Asia Minor was subject 
to the Persians. This had a profound effect on Grecian life. 
The Lydians were so closely connected with the Greeks that 
The Greeks they could easily mingle with them ; the Persians 
of Asia were entirely different. The great king was 

Minor. a f ar ff ; anc l was represented by officials who had 

no sympathy with republican governments. So the Asiatic 
Greeks became discontented, and left their country. The 
Phocaeans went first : the Chians founded settlements at Mar- 
seilles and Alalia. The Teans went to Abdera ; Bias of Priene 
proposed that the whole Ionian race should leave Asia Minor 
and found a settlement in Sardinia. But this scheme, which 
might have changed the face of the world, was not carried 
out. 

Cyrus became master of Syria and the Phoenician coast 
after the fall of Babylon in 539, ancl died in 529. Cambyses 



479 B.C.] HISTORY OF GREECE 8r 

completed the conquest of the East by the conquest of Egypt in 
525. Then followed an interval of twenty years, which was 
occupied by the creation of a Persian fleet and by 
preparation for the attack on the West. It was p h ® il Persian 
also the epoch of the development of Athens. 
The mastery of this city which Pisistratus had won for himself 
in 561 was not of long duration ; he was driven from the country 
by a combination of the nobles and the people Athens 
of the coast. Ten years later he returned with under Pisis- 
a large army, landed at Marathon, and, supported tratus. 
by Thebes, defeated the Athenians at Pellene. In 545 B.C. he 
established a strong government resting on the support of the 
peasants in the mountains. His rule was prosperous. He 
supplied Athens with water, and built many temples. He 
favoured commerce and founded colonies. He established a 
kind of monarchy which was superior to party, and lived on the 
Acropolis like the ancient kings. His position resembled that 
of the Italian princes of the Renaissance. The nobles were 
attracted to his court. He kept the form of the old constitution 
and preserved the law courts, but took care to keep all power 
in his own hands. The loss of political freedom was compen- 
sated by the increase of material prosperity. Pisistratus died 
peacefully in 528 B.C., and was succeeded by his son Hippias. 
Notwithstanding his large colonial possessions, he did not create 
an Athenian navy, but he established close relations with the 
islands of the Aegean, especially with Samos. This island, the 
queen of the Aegean, had been acquired by force and fraud 
by the chief possible rival of Pisistratus in the Grecian world — 
Polycrates — who had an army of a thousand archers and a 
fleet of a hundred and fifty oared ships, and whose reign was 
brilliant in every respect. 

The balance between these conflicting powers was held by 
Sparta, which had risen to a position of great authority. She 
was the strongest military power in the Grecian 
world, and was rightly regarded as the sword of ^ ar a " 

Greece, having the last word in all disputes. She did her best 
to avoid foreign complications and to confine her attention to 
the Peloponnesus. She established a Peloponnesian league, a 
confederacy of a very loose character, a type of those leagues 
which came afterwards. The constitution of Sparta was 
peculiar ; there were two kings, belonging to two different 
houses, and five ephors, who were originally civil judges but 
attained great political power. Even the kings were obliged 

F 



82 A GENERAL HISTORY [1300 b.c. to 

to appear in their courts. They naturally restricted the limits 
of the royal power, a fact which was deeply resented by the 
kings of the house of Agis. 

In the meantime literature and art flourished greatly under 
the family of Pisistratus. The founder had done a great deal 
Art and f° r religion. Besides building on the Acropolis, 

Literature where he lived, the Erechtheum, which may be 
in Athens. regarded as a family shrine, he erected there a 
new temple, a hundred feet long, for the purpose of the Pana- 
thenaic festival. He introduced into Athens the worship of 
the Olympic Zeus and the Pythian Apollo. He made in the 
market place an altar to the Twelve Gods, and built a temple 
to Dionysus, and was the founder of the huge shrine of 
Demeter in Eleusis. He also established the great Panathenaic 
festival and the cult of Dionysus, which was the origin of the 
Athenian theatre. His younger son, Hipparchus, took poetry 
under his especial protection. He invited to Athens Anacreon 
of Samos and Simonides of Ceos. He favoured Lasos of 
Hermione, who was the inventor of the choric part of the 
Athenian drama and the first student of musical theory. To 
this age belong the beginnings of Greek tragedy, which has 
exercised so profound an influence over the art of the world. 
Also the sculpture of this time, which we style archaic, was a 
worthy forerunner of the great school of Pheidias. 

The autocratic governments of this time, glorious and magni- 
ficent as they were, were put an end to by the conquest of 
Egypt by Cambyses, and the consequent fall of the Egyptian 
monarchy. The fall of Polycrates followed as a natural conse- 
quence. When Darius Hystaspes had established his authority 
in Persia and crushed the Magi, he wielded his power with a 
firm hand, and became master of the Ionian coast. Political 
life was dead, but literature still survived. Memorials of this 
age are the writings of Anaximander of Miletus, of the historian 
Hecataeus, of Heraclitus of Ephesus, and Hipponax of the same 
city, who in his bitter satire represented faithfully the unhappy 
circumstances of his time. 

A natural result of these events was the fall of the house of 

Pisistratus. In 515 Darius crossed the Bosphorus, subdued 

Thrace, and attacked the Scythians. Miltiades, 

Revolutions t ^ e g 0vernor f the Chersonesus, became his 

vassal, and even Hippias did homage to him. 

In 514 a plot against the Pisistratids by Harmodius and Aris- 

togiton caused the death of Hipparchus; but Hippias resisted 



479 B.c] HISTORY OF GREECE 83 

for four years longer, and it was not till 510 that Athens could 
be called free. Then Harmodius and Aristogiton became the 
heroes of the democracy; their statues were erected in the market 
place ; their descendants were feasted at the public expense in 
the Prytaneum, where songs were duly sung in their honour. 
Unfortunately, Athens owed her freedom not to a rising of the 
people, but to the efforts of exiled nobles, supported by the 
assistance of Sparta. However, Cleisthenes placed himself at 
the head of the people and introduced a new constitution, 
corresponding to the new state of things, and Constitu- 
aiming at the entire destruction of the power of tion of 
the nobles. The old tribes, which were based on Cleisthenes. 
strict family connections, were abolished, and ten new tribes 
brought into existence, founded not on race but on population 
and habitation. The territory was divided into three sections, 
the city, the coast, and the interior, and by an ingenious 
arrangement each of these parts was represented in every tribe. 
The fiction of blood relationship was kept up, each tribe being 
presided over by a divinity. The unit of political organisation 
was the deme. Each of these villages, large or small, possessed 
a form of self-government and had a clemarch at its head, who 
was responsible for the list of the citizens, each of whom bore 
the name of his deme. The children of settlers and slaves 
might become citizens. The ancient phratries still existed, 
chiefly for religious purposes. The upper chamber or Boule 
was increased in number from four hundred to five hundred, 
fifty from each tribe. In 502, ten strategi or generals were 
chosen from each tribe, who, with the third archon, called the 
polemarch, formed a council of war, the command of the army 
changing from day to day. The ancient court of the Areopagus 
preserved much of its power. The archons were elected by vote, 
and only the richest citizens had access to the higher offices. A 
meeting place for the popular assembly was provided in the 
Pnyx. In order to prevent the recurrence of despotism, a 
system of ostracism or banishment was introduced by which a 
dangerous citizen might be compelled to leave the country. 
This was first used in 487. 

Attica thus became a democracy, a country governed for the 
people and by the people, with a constitution of which those who 
partook of it were proud, and which was admired 
by those who lay outside it. It rested on the Athenian 
broad foundation of the middle classes, and was, 
therefore, in a later age regarded as conservative. This 



84 A GENERAL HISTORY [1300 b.c. to 

momentous change was effected not without severe political 
conflict, but without bloodshed. A number of emigrant nobles 
joined Hippias, hoping to return by the aid of the Persians. 
But Athens was for the time set free from the stasis, the strife 
of parties, which was the ruin of so many Greek states. The 
popular party had never failed in having men of noble birth at 
its head, Solon the Medontid and Cleisthenes the Alcmaeonid, 
and they were supported by many of their own rank. The 
nobles still retained their landed property, and this strengthened 
the material and intellectual position of their city. For at 
least a hundred years more the people saw in their aristocracy 
the chosen leaders of the government, and they on their side 
were ready to devote their property, their capacity, and even 
their lives to the service of their country. 

The struggle which had been so long impending between the 
Persians and the Hellenes broke out in consequence of the 

Ionian revolt. The aristocrats were driven out of 
e oman Naxos an( j found a refuge in Miletus, where they 

were well received by Aristagoras. He proposed 
to Artaphernes, the brother of Darius, who was satrap of 
Sardis, that he should conduct an expedition for their res- 
toration, and in consequence, in the spring, a fleet of five 
hundred ships sailed against Naxos. The expedition ended in 
disaster, and the position of Aristagoras was threatened. He 
determined to meet the danger, and to lead a rebellion against 
the Persians. He saw that his only hope lay in the support of 
the democracy, so he laid down his aristocratic position and 
placed the government of Miletus in the hands of the popular 
assembly. The spirit of rebellion spread to the whole of the 
west coast and to the islands ; the democracies were restored, 
leaders chosen, and troops collected. Aristagoras sought 
assistance in Sparta and Athens. Sparta, with some hesitation, 
refused ; but the Athenians, confident in the strength of the 
Cleisthenian constitution, sent to the Ionians twenty ships 
under the command of Melanthus. It was strange that they did 
not see that this small force was insufficient to do any good, but 
would inevitably draw down the wrath of the Persians upon the 
head of Athens. 

In the spring of 499, the insurgent troops, together with the 
forces sent by Athens and Eretria, marched upon Sardis. 
Artaphernes defended the citadel, but he could not prevent 
the town from being burned. The Ionians, however, were soon 
compelled to retreat, overtaken at Ephesus, and defeated. The 



479 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 85 

Athenians and Eretrians returned home. In the meantime 
a Phoenician fleet, manned by Cilicians, sailed to attack Cyprus, 
which had ioined the insurrection. The Persians 
gained a decisive victory in the plain of Salamis, £™g« of 
and it was of little use that on the same day 
the Ionian fleet defeated the Phoenicians at sea. Cyprus fell 
entirely into the hands of Persia. Persian forces were now 
advancing on all sides against Miletus. Aristagoras died in 
496, and Histiaeus, whom Darius had sent to Miletus to quell 
the insurrection, met with a melancholy end, three years later. 
The Phoenician fleet which had operated against Cyprus now 
made its appearance in the ^Egean, strengthened by additions 
from Egypt, Cilicia, and Cyprus. The Ionians collected what 
ships they could lay their hands on in a large bay, close to 
Miletus, shut in by the island of Lade. For some 
time the two fleets watched each other in idle- Battle of 
ness, but, when the decisive moment came, the 
ships of Samos sailed home and were followed by the Lesbians 
and others. The rest of the fleet was destroyed after a brave 
resistance, and Miletus was first besieged and then stormed 
in 494 B.C. In the following year the insurrection was put 
down. The inhabitants of Miletus were carried off in exile to 
the Tigris, and the country given up to Persians and Carians. 
Mardonius, who was sent to Asia Minor as Persian governor in 
492, adopted a popular policy, and established democratic 
constitutions. 

It is at this time that we first hear of the founder of the 
Athenian naval power, Themistocles, the son of an Athenian 
father and a foreign mother, a man of extra- Athens and 
ordinary ability but contemptible private char- the Persian 
acter. Themistocles saw that it was absolutely Peril, 
necessary to meet the Persians at sea, and when he became 
archon, probably in 493, took the first step towards the 
foundation of a fleet by making the harbour of Piraeus. 
In the same year Miltiades came to Athens with a large 
following and a plentiful supply of money. The arrival was 
not popular with the political chiefs, but the populace saw 
in him their chosen leader against the Persians. He believed 
that he could withstand the Persian attack with the Greek 
phalanx, but he had no respect for the naval plans of Themi- 
stocles. The hoplites naturally belonged to the ruling classes, 
but the fleet was manned by men of a lower class, who would, 
in return for their services, demand political rights, and so 



86 A GENERAL HISTORY U300 b.c. to 

the question of defence by land or sea became affected by 
political considerations. 

Mardonius made elaborate arrangements for the attack upon 

Greece. His first attempt failed partly through the difficulty 

Persian °f marching through Thrace, partly through the 

Prepara- destruction of his fleet in rounding the promontory 

tions. f Mount Athos. The command of a new army 

was now given to a Median, Datis, who was accompanied by 

Artaphernes, a nephew of Darius. His army was much smaller 

than that of Mardonius, certainly not more than 20,000 men 

and a few cavalry. The ships were used merely for transport. 

Datis set out from Samos in the summer of 490. After 

passing JSTaxos and sacrificing to Apollo in Delos, he reached 

The Eretria, which he occupied and destroyed. He 

Persians then sailed to Attica, and landed in the plain of 

in Attica. Marathon. The Athenians were taken by surprise, 

and had to depend upon their own resources. They sent to 

Sparta for help, which could not come for a long time, but a 

thousand Plataeans joined them on the field of battle. Miltiades 

collected a force of ten thousand hoplites ; but had neither 

light armed troops nor cavalry. The rich men who had horses 

gave them up, and served as hoplites. The Athenians were full 

of patriotism, but were terrified at the number of their enemies, 

their appearance, and their reputation for being invincible. 

Could not the struggle be deferred ? 

Miltiades was convinced that it must be decided now or never, 
and persuaded the polemarch Kallimachus to march to Mara- 
thon. Yet for several days the armies remained in 
Battle of position, the Greeks fearing to fight in the plain, 
the Persians desiring it. At the same time, the 
Persians could not wait, and they heard that the Spartans were 
approaching. Datis determined to attack, and Miltiades pre- 
pared to receive him. He was not able to pursue the usual 
Greek tactics of outflanking the enemy, but he strengthened his 
wings as much as he could at the risk of depleting his centre. 
As soon as the Persians came within striking distance, he 
ordered an advance at the double, and a violent struggle took 
place between man and man. The Persians broke through at 
the centre, but the Greeks conquered on the wings, and were 
then able to unite and restore the balance in the centre. The 
Persians fled, and were driven into the marshes in the northern 
part of the plain, where most of them escaped to their ships or 
threw themselves into the sea. The Athenians captured seven 



479 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 87 

ships, while Datis sailed away with the rest. It is said that 
the Persians lost 6400 men, the Athenians 192. 

Datis hoped to round Sunium and renew the attack at 
Athens, but he soon found that this was impossible, and 
he sailed away to Asia. The Spartan contingent Retreat 
of 2000 men arrived shortly after the battle, of the 
but they could only visit the battle-field and Persians, 
offer congratulations. The Athenians were indeed covered with 
glory, and the name of Miltiades was in every mouth. It 
was not likely that the Persians would give up the task they 
had set themselves, but the preparations for it would occupy 
several years. Besides, in 486 B.C. there was a rebellion in 
Egypt, and in the autumn of 485 Darius died and was succeeded 
by Xerxes, the eldest son of Atossa. In 484 „ 
Xerxes succeeded in recovering Egypt, and in 
the following year he began his preparations for the invasion 
of Greece. 

In the meantime, Miltiades had died. An ostracism took 
place in 487 by which Hipparchus, son of Charmos, was exiled, 
and a similar fate befell Megacles, the son of Democratic 
Hippocrates, in the following year. The constitu- Changes at 
tion was now altered, so that the archons were Athens, 
chosen by lot, thus becoming mere officials, and a consider- 
able step was made towards pure democracy. The people 
became sovereign. They were, indeed, checked by the Council 
of five hundred, which was chosen from the three richest 
classes, but its members too were chosen by lot, as were also 
its president and his council. The Areopagus had a most 
conservative influence. It consisted of men of weight and 
experience, chosen for life ; it was independent of the popular 
assembly, and had the duty of protecting the laws against 
violation. It also had a certain authority over finance, and in 
some respects resembled the Senate of Rome. However, the 
fact remained that political power was placed in the hands 
of the people, and that the Areopagus had little but a re- 
tarding authority. The people had full power of decision, 
though none of initiative. The principal safeguards against 
unrestricted democracy were the strategi or generals. These 
were chosen for their merits, and they had the privilege of 
attending the council whether elected to it or not. 

Xerxes began his preparations for the expedition against 
Hellas in 483. He took every precaution against its being 
unsuccessful. Mardonius again assumed the position of chief 



88 A GENERAL HISTORY [1300 b.c. to 

adviser. Army and fleet were to co-operate together. In 

order to avoid the dangerous coast of Athos, a canal was cut 

Second through the isthmus, which took three years to 

Persian make. Bridges were thrown over the Strymon and 

Expedition, the Hellespont. Stores of provisions were laid 

down, ships were built, and munitions collected. The army 

had orders to assemble in Asia Minor in the autumn of 481, 

in order to begin operations in the following spring. No 

expedition of the great Napoleon was more carefully and 

thoughtfully organised. 

Xerxes found a good deal of support in Greece itself. The 
nobles of Thessaly and Thebes were on his side, as well as 
Argos. Demaratus, king of Sparta, and the Pisistratidae 
accompanied the expedition. If Gelon, king of Syracuse, 
who had a powerful fleet and great treasure, had been able 
to assist Athens, it might have been a cause of great difficulty 
to Xerxes. But, unfortunately for the Greeks, an alliance 
was made in 480 between Persia and Garthage, so that 
the whole of Eastern civilisation, from the Atlantic to the 
Indus, was banded together for the destruction of Hellenism 
in the person of Athens. In the presence of clanger, the 
Athenians pursued an energetic naval policy. 
N fAth P ° liCy Aristides was ostracised in 482, and Themistocles 
was given a free hand in building his fleet. 
It was to consist of 200 triremes, of which 180 were completed, 
each of them costing a talent, paid for by the state 
from the produce of the mines of Laurium. The ships were 
small and undecked, and could only hold fourteen hoplites 
and eight archers. They were manned by 7000 rowers, taken 
chiefly from the thetes, the lowest class of citizens, with 
perhaps a few metoeci and selected slaves. A corps of light 
armed bowmen, composed also of thetes, was added to the 
force of hoplites. By the policy of Themistocles, Athens was 
now the possessor of a fleet far superior to that of Corinth, 
Aegina, and Oorcyra, and probably to that of Gelon. But, in 
creating the fleet, Themistocles had also founded the demo- 
cracy of Athens. Old aristocratic traditions were broken up 
for ever. The horny hands to which were entrusted the 
oar which was to save the community could no longer be 
excluded from voting in the ballot-box. 

In the autumn of 481 Xerxes sent to all the Grecian 
states, with the exception of Athens and Sparta, a demand 
for earth and water, the refusal of which would be his pretext 



479 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 89 

of iwar. How was the Hellenic world, which stretched, a 
scattered and unorganised collection of states, from the Rhone 
to Cyprus, from the Crimea to Cyrene, to meet this danger ? 
The burden of its defence fell on Athens and Sparta alone. 
Even the Delphic oracle failed in this crisis to inspire a 
patriotic courage. A congress of Hellenic states was held 
in the Isthmus of Corinth, to form a league for the purpose 
of self-preservation. The names of the states who attended 
it are engraved on the bronze serpent pillar which was once 
at Delphi, but is now at Constantinople. Besides the two 
great leading states it contains the names of Euboea, Colchis, 
and Eretria, of many of the Cyclades, of Thespiae and Plataea, of 
the Corinthian colonies of Leucas, Anactorium, and Ambracia, 
of the Phocians and other small colonies of Middle Greece. 
It was resolved that the states which surrendered to the 
Persians should in case of victory, be devoted to destruction, 
and their property divided among the allies after paying a tithe 
to the Delphian deity. The command of both fleet and army 
was entrusted by the congress to the Spartans. But fortunately 
the ephors of the day were wise and generous enough to 
leave the burden of the defence to Themistocles and the 
fleet, and to keep the army back in a position of reserve. 

Xerxes left Sardis in the spring of 480, crossed the bridge over 
the Hellespont in May, marched along the coast of Thrace, and 
reached Salonica in July. Here he met the fleet, 
which had passed safely through the Athos Canal. Xerxes 
We may assume that the army did not number 
more than 100,000, and that the fleet, perhaps over a thou- 
sand at full strength, did not at Salamis largely exceed the 
force of the Athenians. The Greeks at first intended to 
occupy the pass of Tempe, but it was soon seen that this 
could not be defended. It was therefore determined to sacrifice 
Thessaly, and to take up a position at Thermopylae, where the 
sea between Euboea and the coast of Thessaly makes a narrow 
fiord, which rendered the action of the Persian fleet impossible 
at its mouth. On the south side of the fiord, beyond the 
mouth of the Spercheios, the spurs of Oeta run down to the 
sea, and leave space only for a narrow road. A small body of 
men occupying Thermopylae might delay the land army for a 
few days, and give time for the decisive naval battle. The 
Grecian fleet, commanded by the Spartan Eurybiades, took up a 
position at the north of Euboea, between the promontory of 
Sepias, which forms the southern extremity of the Magnesian 



90 A GENERAL HISTORY [1300 b.c. to 

coast, and the island of Skiathus. Thermopylae was occupied 
by King Leonidas of Sparta, with an army of 4000 Pelopon- 
nesians, among whom were 300 Spartiates ; together with 
700 Thespians from Boeotia, 400 Thebans, and a few others 
from Locris and Phocis — an army quite sufficient to defend 
the pass. The Persian fleet met on the coast of Magnesia with 
a terrible storm which raged for three days, and destroyed on 
those iron shores about 400 ships. The two fleets and armies 
Battles of now s ^ ooc ^ °PP ose d to each other, Xerxes before 
Thermo- Thermopylae, the fleet before Artemisium. On 
pylae the fifth day, Xerxes attacked the position of 

and Arte- Leonidas, and the Greek fleet advanced against 
mismm. the p ers i an ^he Persians had attempted to 
send a detachment of their fleet round through the Euripus 
to attack the Greeks in the rear, but a heavy storm ruined all 
their combinations. The two battles lasted long without any 
success on the Persian side, but Xerxes at last succeeded in 
crossing the mountain and surrounding the Greeks. Leonidas 
and his Spartans determined to defend the pass till the last 
man, and, if necessary, to die at their posts. Indeed, the last 
survivor perished on a hill which commanded the entrance to 
the pass. The sea battle was indecisive, but the Greeks suf- 
fered serious losses, and determined to preserve their remaining 
ships for a more favourable occasion. When the news of the 
catastrophe of Thermopylae arrived, they retreated at night 
through the Euripus and reached the Ionic Gulf. The Greeks 
had failed both by sea and land, but the heroic death of 
Leonidas and his Spartans had strengthened their determin- 
ation and inspired them with the resolution to conquer or 
to die. 

The victories of Thermopylae and Artemisium left central 
Greece open to the army of Xerxes. They brought him many 
friends, including the oracle of Delphi, whose guardians were 
afraid lest their temple should be plundered. The only 
defensible point was now the Isthmus of Corinth, where a 
strong Peloponnesian army assembled under Cleombrotus, the 
brother of Leonidas. Greece, north of the isthmus, even 
including Athens, was surrendered to the enemy. Of the 
Athenians, the women, children, and slaves took refuge in 
Salamis, Aegina, and Troezen, the men went to man the fleet. 
Only the poorest part of the population was left behind, and 
fortified themselves in the Acropolis. When they refused to 
surrender, the rock was stormed by the Pisistratid emigrants, 



479 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 91 

and the temples were burned. In the meantime the Greek fleet 
assembled at Salamis. The losses of Artemisium had been 
repaired, and Aeschylus, who was present, reckons the number 
of the ships at 310. Their position prevented a Persian advance 
upon the isthmus, because the invaders would be exposed to an 
attack on both flank and rear. The hearts of the mariners 
sank within them when they saw the Persian fleet anchored in 
Phaleron, and the smoke rising from the ruins of the Acropolis, 
but, under the influence of Themistocles, they held a firm 
countenance. 

But would the Persians risk a sea battle ? — would they not 
prefer to land immediately in the Peloponnesus 1 There was a 
great deal to be said for this, and perhaps it was 
the wisest course. But Xerxes felt that if the galamis 
Greek fleet were destroyed, the war would be at an 
end, and he determined to attack. To strengthen his resolution, 
Themistocles sent him a crafty message that the Greeks were 
discontented and inclined to run away, and that he would 
have an easy victory. He therefore gave orders at night to 
close up all passages and to begin the attack in the morning. 
The Grecian fleet was posted in a bay on the east coast of 
the island, enclosed by a tongue of land on the north, which 
was separated by something less than a mile from the main- 
land, and on the south by a ridge about two miles long, bearing 
the name of Cynosura, the little island of Psyttaleia lying be- 
tween them. Thus the sea between Salamis and the mainland 
was almost entirely enclosed, and turned into a sound about 
three miles long and a mile broad. This sound was in the 
night completely enclosed by the Persian ships, drawn up in 
three lines. The island of Psyttaleia was occupied by Persian 
troops, with the object of seizing the shipwrecked Greeks, and 
the small bay between Megara and Salamis was also occupied 
in order to prevent the Greeks from escaping. The king took 
up his position on Mount Aegaleos to see the issue of the fight. 
At daybreak on September 28, 480, the whole Hellenic fleet 
advanced with shouts of battle to attack the enemy, the right 
wing led by the Spartans, and the left by the Athenians, 
who were opposed to the Phoenicians. The battle was not 
long in doubt. The Persians, embarrassed by their numbers, 
and crowded into a close position, were quite helpless, although 
they fought bravely under the eyes of their king. They 
had no chance ; the sea was full of wrecks and corpses ; the 
Athenians, taking the lead on the left wing, drove the disabled 



92 A GENERAL HISTORY [1300 b.c. to 

vessels into the arms of the Corinthians and Aeginetans on the 
right. Aristicles destroyed the troops in Psyttaleia with 
Athenian hoplites and archers. When, after the battle had 
lasted twelve hours, night put an end to the conflict, the 
Persian fleet was entirely destroyed, and the freedom of Hellas 
was secured. 

Themistocles advised the pursuit of the Persian army and 
the destruction of the bridge over the Hellespont, and, though 
the bridge had been destroyed already, the appearance of the 
victorious Greek fleet on the coast of Asia Minor would have 
dealt a death-blow to Persian supremacy. But his advice was 
rejected by the allies, and he thought it too dangerous to lead 
the Athenians by themselves. Hence the fruits of the victory 
of Salamis were, to a great extent, lost. Xerxes determined 
to retreat. Cleombrotus thought of attacking him, but was 
prevented by an eclipse of the sun, which took place on October 
2. We are told that on the very day of Salamis a battle 
of nearly equal moment took place in Sicily. Here the 
Carthaginians had collected a large army of mercenaries, 
Phoenicians and Libyans, Sardinians and Corsicans, Iberians 
from the Ebro, Ligurians from the Alps. They were under 
the command of Hamilcar, son of Mago, the creator of the 
Carthaginian army. In the spring of 480, this 
„* e ° army landed at Panormos, and marched on 
Himera, which lay towards the east. The Greeks 
gained a complete victory, the Carthaginian army was annihi- 
lated, and Hamilcar met his death. The position of the Greeks 
in Sicily was secured : Hellenism had prevailed over Semitism. 
In 479 was fought the battle of Plataea, but, before this 
took place, Themistocles, the blue water champion, was de- 
prived of his command, and his old enemy, 
pfat8ea° f Aristicl es, established in his place. At the end 
of June 479, Mardonius advanced against Attica, 
hoping to win over the Athenians to his side, but Aristides 
was staunch. The Spartans hesitated for a long time, but 
determined at last to cross the isthmus and to attack Mardonius. 
He was compelled to retire into Boeotia, having first laid 
waste the country. The army of Athens under the command 
of Aristides joined the Spartans in the plain of Eleusis. After 
many changes of fortune, which we have not space to recount, 
the Greeks gained a complete victory. Mardonius fell with 
the flower of his Persians, and the rest fled. The camp of 
the Persians was stormed, and booty beyond belief fell into 



479 b.c] HISTORY OF GREECE 93 

the hands of the Greeks. Pausanias gained a victory which 
has immortalised his name. The struggle between lance and 
bow was decided, and the supremacy of the disciplined hoplites 
assured. While Pausanias and Mardonius stood opposed to 
each other at Plataea, the fleet of Leotychides left Samos for 
the coast of Asia. The Persians were afraid to risk a sea 
fight ; partly warned by the result of Salamis, partly because 
they could not trust their Ionian allies, they determined to 
send the Phoenician ships home, to march to 
Mycale, and there to intrench themselves. The ^cale^ 
Persian army at Mycale was under the command 
of Tigranes. The Greeks advanced to the attack apparently 
on the same day as the battle of Plataea. The Persians fought 
bravely, but their officers had lost their heads and Tigranes 
fell. The Persian army was destroyed, and the fleet burned. 
The flame of insurrection burst forth in Ionia, the tyrants 
were overthrown, and the Persian garrisons driven out. The 
impossible had taken place. The onslaught of the mightiest 
sovereign in the world and his Carthaginian allies had been 
shattered by the heroic resistance of a small portion of the 
Hellenic nation, and the crisis of the world's history had 
been decided. 



CHAPTER VI. 

HISTORY OF GREECE, 478-387 B.C. 

In the spring of 478 the fleet of the Hellenic League crossed 

the sea under the command of Pausanias. Aristides and Oimon, 

the son of Miltiades, commanded the Attic contingent. The 

Greek towns of Asia Minor had been really set at 

of cypniT libert y b y the battle of Mycale, so the fleet went 
to Cyprus, where it had little difficulty in per- 
forming the same office for that island. It was still more 
important to open the Black Sea to Greek commerce and to 
liberate the straits which led to it. Pausanias took Byzantium, 
Pausanias ar >d spent the winter there. It was soon found 
at Byzan- to be a mistake to entrust the command to the 
tium. power which had the smallest fleet. But Pausa- 

nias felt himself to be the military commander of Hellas. He 
surrounded himself with a bodyguard of Persians and Egyptians, 
and assumed the dress of an Eastern sovereign. The Ionians 
who had been set free from one tyranny would not submit to 
another, and they finally joined the Athenians. The rest of 
the Greeks, with the exception of the Peloponnesians, followed 
The Delian their example, and Pausanias was recalled. The 
Con- Spartans made the best of a bad job. The result 

federacy. f this was the formation of the Delian confede- 
racy, which was organised on the principle that the states 
comprising it should pay money instead of a contribution of 
ships. The treasury was placed in Delos, and the accounts 
were to be kept by a commission of ten. Aristides fixed the 
sum required every year at 460 talents, that is, about £120,000, 
and decided what portion of it was to be contributed by each 
member. 

The first object of the league was the entire expulsion of the 
Persians from Europe. It was only natural that a confederacy 
of this kind could not be carried on without a certain amount 
of jealousy and suspicion, and Athens had to use force in keep- 
ing her authority over Naxos, Erythrae, and Colophon. In 

94 



478-387 e.g.] HISTORY OF GREECE 95 

Athens, after the battles of Plata ea and Mycale, there was a 
truce to party strife. The city seemed disposed to enjoy her 
greatness, to glory in her past, and to look for- 
ward with hope towards the future. The return Athens 11 ° 
of the emigrant nobles was regarded as impossible ; 
the original statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton had been 
carried off by Xerxes to Susa, but new statues were erected in 
their place. Phrynicus and Aeschylus vied with each other in 
representing the victory of Salamis on the stage. The bones 
of Theseus, the founder of Athens, were brought by Cimon in 
triumph from Scyros to Athens. The people were reminded 
that Menestheus, an Athenian, had fought with distinction in 
the Trojan war, and that his name had been immortalised in 
the Iliad, the Bible of the Greeks, and that the Athenians were 
autochthons — the original inhabitants of the soil, not imported 
from elsewhere. But amongst so active-minded a people the 
cessation of party spirit could not last for long. Cimon and 
Cimon, the son of Miltiades, was the undoubted Themi- 
leader of the constructive party, but he soon found stocles. 
an antagonist in Themistocles. This statesman had remained 
behind in Athens, leaving the foundation of the Delian League 
to Aristides and the conduct of the war to Cimon, which rather 
increased than diminished his influence. Cimon was a most 
attractive personality. Tall, with a copious crop of hair, full 
of the lust of life, a friend of wine and sport, but yet not a 
stranger to culture, generous with his princely fortune, deco- 
rating the city with groves and buildings, which were open to 
all, he was the undisputed master of the state. Themistocles 
was a complete contrast to this. An interloper amongst the 
nobles, stingy with his wealth, in manners rather repellent 
than attractive, he was marked out for the leader of an opposi- 
tion, and a ground for party differences was found in the support 
or denunciation of the war against Persia. Themistocles turned 
his eyes towards the West, and called two of his daughters Italia 
and Sybaris. He wished to place the commercial prosperity of 
Athens upon a broader basis, to make peace with the East, to 
seek new developments in the West, and to prepare for the 
inevitable conflict with Sparta. 

If Sparta was to retain her supremacy in the Peloponnesus, it 
was necessary for her to secure the assistance of Athens, and 
for the purpose she supported the party of Cimon. Themi- 
stocles was ostracised in the spring of 470 ; the Athenian fleet 
lent its aid in driving the rebellious Pausanias out of Byzan- 



96 A GENERAL HISTORY [478 b.c. to 

tium, where he had established himself as a forerunner of 

Wallenstein. He was denounced by the ephors, and was at 

Deaths of ^ as ^ s ^ arve d to death in the temple in which he 

Pausanias had taken refuge. Letters from Themistocles 

andThemi- were found among Pausanias' papers, and the 

stocles. Spartans determined on his destruction. He was 

accused of high treason and condemned. He was hounded 

from city to city by the two rival states, who now acted 

together for the last time. At last he fled to the court of 

Susa, where in 465 Artaxerxes had succeeded the murdered 

Xerxes. At length he died at Magnesia in the valley of the 

Meander ; his bones were brought back to Athens and secretly 

buried there. He was, in many respects, the greatest statesman 

of his time, and he has left a permanent impression upon the 

history of the world ; but he had not the strength or the good 

fortune to secure himself by the attainment of a dominant 

position against the attacks of those who detest genius and 

originality, and who hate rather than admire qualities and 

capacities which they do not possess themselves. 

The great battle of Eurymedon, won by Cimon against the 

Persians, was fought in the autumn of 466. It was an attempt 

to secure Lycia and the south coast of Asia Minor 

Battle o against Persian domination. Cimon had increased 

Eurymedon. „" . „ ,, , . . . ,, . A , 

the size or the triremes and covered them with a 

deck, so that they were superior to the Phoenician vessels. 
Cimon gained a great victory both by sea and land, and carried 
home enormous booty. The result was the entire destruction 
of Persian pretensions and the making of the Aegean into an 
Athenian lake. The extent of the Delian confederacy was 
The jar g ei y increased. In a single generation Athens 

Athenian had been transformed from a mere province, with 
Empire. a f ew possessions outside, into the ruler of an 

empire extending over the whole of the islands and coasts of 
the Aegean as well as the passage of the Hellespont, with a 
definite and energetic policy which could set its face against 
the widely extended power of the great king. This had a 
powerful effect upon the social position of the city. Athens 
dominated the commerce of a large portion of the world : 
Pontus, Sicily, Italy, the northern coast of Asia Minor, Cyprus, 
and Cyrene, and their trade was protected by her powerful 
fleet. Carthage alone had an independent position. The 
Piraeus was, next to Carthage, the principal port of the Mediterra- 
nean. Athens was crowded with foreigners seeking commercial 



387 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 97 

gain. It became the chosen home of culture. Its praises were 
sung by Simonides, Bacchylides, and Pindar ; philosophers 
took up their abode in it, especially Anaxagoras of Clazomenae ; 
Polygnotus of Thasos, the great wall painter, came to live in 
Athens, together with his pupils. Attic art became famous 
throughout the whole of Greece, and crowds from every part of 
the Grecian world thronged the Dionysian and Panathenaic festi- 
vals. Attic drama became the model for all dramatic art ; the 
plays of Phrynicus and Aeschylus were performed in Sicily. 
Towering above all stood the genius of Pheidias, the creator of 
a new idea of Pallas and of Zeus. When the people of Elis had 
completed their temple of Zeus in 455, they wished Pheidias to 
make the great ivory and gold statue of the " Father of the Gods." 
The city itself assumed a new appearance. Oimon had planted 
the market-place with plane trees, and had adorned the groves 
of Academus with stately walks and open spaces. A colonnade 
was built in the market-place, which Polygnotus decorated with 
paintings at his own expense. He represented there the battle 
of the Amazons, the destruction of Troy, the battle of Marathon. 
Athens was connected with her harbour so as to make a single 
city. The Acropolis was made into a mighty shrine for Pallas 
Athene, the tutelary goddess of the city. A great temple was 
begun for her, the completion of which was deferred by political 
differences for ten years. 

The government of Athens still lay in the hands of the well- 
to-do, but the prosperity of the country had been caused mainly 
by the successes of the fleet, which was manned p ... . . 
by the working classes. Victory, even on land, an( j 
had been mainly owing to the fleet and the pro- economical 
letariate. Agriculture lost its prosperity by the position of 
importation of foreign corn. It was found more Atnens - 
profitable to grow vegetables, and the chief article of export 
was olive oil. Athens, like England, had to live on the produce 
of foreign countries, and therefore the command of the sea, 
especially the entrance of the Hellespont, which secured the 
control of the Crimea, became a matter of life and death. 
The great land-owners lost their position; the town took the 
place of the country, commerce of agriculture ; artisans became 
masters of factories, shopkeepers became merchants, money- 
lenders became bankers. It is calculated that in the year 460 
the Athenian citizens numbered about 60,000. The employ- 
ment of capital became necessary to meet the increased com- 
plexity of social needs. The usual interest was 12 per cent., 

G 



tj8 A GENERAL HISTORY [478 b.c. to 

but in case of sea risks this was increased to 20 per cent, or 
even 33 per cent. During the Peloponnesian war, the usual 
wage was a drachma a day. As all citizens were required to 
serve in the fleet or in the army, the metoeci and the freedmen, 
who were generally artisans, became more numerous than the 
citizens. Foreign slaves were also purchased in very large 
numbers. Next to Chios, Athens had more slaves than any 
other city in Greece. The result of this was that the citizens 
were gradually withdrawn from manual labour, and yet they 
required servile assistance both for their own comfort and for 
their financial prosperity. There naturally arose two parties, 
one the party of wealth and position, who wished things to 
remain as they were, the other the party of progress, who 
wished for radical changes ; and the struggle raged, as has 
always been the case in England, round the question of altering 
the constitution. 

The first object of the radicals was to get rid of the Areopagus, 
which was a strongly conservative institution. It was, like the 
House of Lords in England, the great hindrance to democratic 
advance. Of the two parties, whose views were very similar to 
those held by the corresponding parties in England, the con- 
servatives were probably the more numerous, but the liberals 
were better organised. After the ostracism of Themistocles, 
Cimon was the foremost man in Athens, and after the death 
of Pausanias there was no one in Greece who could compare 
with him. But he was an aristocrat from head to foot, the 
born champion of the conservative party. He also desired the 

preservation of the Delian confederacy, friendship 
Policy ot w ith Sparta, war with Persia, and a moderate 

treatment of the allies. Themistocles had been 
overthrown by a coalition between Cimon and the Alcmaeonids, 
but, its object obtained, this unnatural alliance came to an end. 
A powerful leader, one of the greatest statesmen of all times, 

now began to make his appearance. Pericles, son 

of Xanthippus, was on the spindle side the great 
nephew of Cleisthenes. His political teacher is said to have 
been Damonides of Oa, a man of great ability, who combined 
the teaching of theory and practice. Under his influence 
Pericles became gradually the political successor of Themi- 
stocles. He joined himself with the remnants of the Themi- 
stoclean party, the foremost of whom was Ephialtes, the son of 
Sophonides. We know little about his personality except that 
he was an honest man of blameless character, but one who 



387 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 99 

supported democracy with a fiery zeal which earned the hatred 
of his opponents. 

The struggle between the two parties seems to have begun 
after the battle of Eurymedon, when the absence of Cimon 
from Athens for three years gave his enemies Attack 
an opportunity. Ephialtes commenced with an on the 
attack upon the Areopagus. When Cimon re- Areopagus, 
turned to Athens he found that his popularity was diminished, 
and that he was suspended from his office. However, the attack 
upon him, in which Pericles took a prominent part, failed, and 
he was again elected strategos for the next year ; indeed, in 
the summer of 462, he was allowed to lead a large force to 
assist the Spartans against the Messenians. His absence gave 
Ephialtes an opportunity which he did not hesitate to use. 
He proposed to deprive the Areopagus of its political power. 
A law to this effect was passed. Ephialtes was shortly after- 
wards murdered, which shows the bitterness of the conflict. 
When the Spartans knew that the radicals had conquered in 
Athens, they distrusted the presence of Athenian hoplites in 
their country, and feared lest they might make common cause 
with the Messenians. They were therefore anxious for their 
departure, and asked Cimon to withdraw, although the need 
of their presence was as great as ever. This behaviour of the 
Spartans confirmed the victory of the democratic party at 
Athens. When Cimon attempted to repeal the law passed 
about the Areopagus, he was ostracised in 461, and had to 
leave Athens. 

A number of radical measures were now passed, the principal 
of which was the payment of all officers appointed by lot, in- 
cluding the members of the council and the Complete 
judges. Judges for each action were chosen by Democracy 
lot out of a number of 6000, who changed every established. 
year, to which every citizen of good character could be admitted. 
As each court contained several hundred judges, thousands re- 
ceived the pay on every day that the court sat. Their pay was 
two obols, that is, threepence, but it must be remembered that 
those offices which required skill and education for their conduct 
were still unpaid, such as the office of general. The theory was 
that all ordinary offices imposed mere duties of routine, which 
one citizen could perform as well as another, and on this prin- 
ciple even the third class — the zeugitae — became eligible for 
the archonship. Other measures of a democratic character 
were also passed. The functions of the Areopagus were partly 



ioo A GENERAL HISTORY [478 b.c. to 

assigned to the Boule, which had very important duties— that of 
deciding what measures should be introduced into the popular 
assembly, the supervision of all officials, and the care of the 
finances. It had also charge of the police ; it could im- 
pose fines, and in some cases inflict the punishment of death. 
But the main duties of the Areopagus fell to the share of the 
Heliaea, who had the care of the laws and complete control 
over the executive, having to subject public officers to examina- 
tion both before the acceptance of office and on laying it down, 
and, in conjunction with the Boule, to revise the laws every 
year and to see if they required alteration, so that the council 
and the judges became the chosen representatives of the govern- 
ment. The government of the people by themselves existed in 
Athens as it had never existed before in history. The Ecclesia, 
the assembly of the people, was the supreme authority in the 
state. But the weakness and the mobility which are the 
dangers of a democracy were limited and checked by a number 
of ingenious arrangements which, so long as they kept their 
validity, were fully efficient for their purpose. Athens was 
ruined, not by its democratic institutions, but by the arrival of 
unprincipled men to power. 

As we have before said, in the summer of 465 Xerxes was 

murdered by his grand vizier, Artabanos, his later years having 

been spent in lust and idleness. Darius, his 

eldest son, was accused of being privy to the 

crime, so he was killed by his younger brother Artaxerxes, 

who assumed the crown. The Athenians thought this a good 

Athens opportunity for an attack upon their hereditary 

attacks enemy, and in 409 they sent an expedition to 

Persia. Cyprus, which proceeded thence to Egypt, sailed 

up the Nile, destroyed the Persian fleet, and took Memphis. 

A war broke out between Argos, the democratic ally of 

Athens, and Mycene, in which the Spartans assisted Mycene, 

but they were defeated with the help of the Athenians at 

Oenoe. The victory was recorded on the painted colonnade 

by a picture which was a pendant to that representing the 

battle of Marathon. Great hopes were excited by the alliance 

between Argos and Athens. Mantinea also became democratic 

and anti-Spartan, whilst Tegea adhered more closely to the 

Spartans. Megara also joined democratic Athens, its nobles 

remaining true to Sparta. For this step, Megara was attacked 

by Corinth, but defended by Athens. The old friendship 

between Athens and Corinth was turned into bitter hatred. 



387b.c] HISTORY OF GREECE lot 

Corinth could expect little immediate help from Sparta, but 

she determined to avenge herself. The Athenians now sent 

a fleet to the Peloponnesus, which resulted in an 

attack upon Aegina, and caused the intervention Corinth. 

of the Corinthians, who, however, suffered a 

severe defeat in the autumn of 459. Battles also took place 

at Tanagra and Oenophyta, and Boeotia became Attic. At 

last, in 456, the Aeginetans had to submit, and joined the 

Delian confederacy. Troezen also joined the Athenians, and 

they were now at liberty to attack the colonies of Corinth. 

Up to this time, Corinth had been the predominant power in 
Western Greece, and had been able to retain the island empire 
founded under her tyrants. Leucas, Anactorium, The 
and Ambracia, which had been founded by Corinthian 
Corinth in conjunction with Corcyra, were all Colonies, 
supporters of Corinth, and were ready to give her assistance in 
time of need, and had all taken part in the Persian war. Apol- 
lonia, far up in Illyria, held a similar position. The states 
lying in the neighbourhood of these colonial possessions were 
generally favourable to the mother city. It now seemed as if 
Corcyra, whose relations with Corinth had been 
strained for the last hundred and fifty years, was ^ r 

likely to join Athens in an attack upon the mother who had 
produced her. Corcyra owed her importance to being upon the 
high road between Greece, Italy, and Sicily, as all ships 
had to stop there. Her constitution was moderately demo- 
cratic : the government lay in the hands of the great wine 
merchants who owned the vineyards in the centre of the 
island. She possessed a large navy, about 120 triremes, manned 
to a great extent by slaves, and was therefore strong enough 
to pursue a policy of her own. She had taken no part in the 
Persian war, and she now desired to be neutral in the struggle 
between Athens and Corinth. In the year 455, Tolmides, an 
Athenian admiral, led an expedition round the Peloponnesus. 
He burned the arsenal of Gythion, secured the alliance of 
Zakynthos and Cephallenia, captured the Corinthian town of 
Chalcis, in Aetolia, defeated the army of Sicyon, and settled in 
Naupaktos the Messenians from Ithome, who had lately made 
peace with the Spartans. 

Just at this time the Athenians suffered a severe defeat in 
Egypt. Inarus was occupying Memphis with Athenian troops 
to assist the Egyptians in maintaining their independence 
against the Persians ; but in 456 he was attacked by the 



102 A GENERAL HISTORY [478 b.c. to 

Persian general Megobyzus. After resisting for a year and a 
half, he was defeated in the spring of 454 by the diversion 
Athenian 0I an arm °f the Nile. A large number of the 
Reverses in Athenians were slain, but a few succeeded in 
Egypt. escaping to Cyrene and in reaching their homes. 

Inarus surrendered to Megobyzus, and made him promise that 
his life should be spared, but, five years later, he was murdered. 
Egypt returned to the position of a Persian province. To make 
matters worse, an Athenian fleet of fifty ships, which was bring- 
ing reinforcements to Egypt, fell into the hands of the Persians 
and was destroyed. This was the first serious reverse which 
the Athenians had suffered after so many victories. The Phoe- 
nician fleet commanded the Mediterranean : Cyprus again 
became Persian. Until a new fleet was built, the Aegean was 
at the mercy of the Phoenicians. The treasure of the League 
at Delos was removed to the Acropolis. Sparta, however, 
refused to join the Persians, and the Athenians recovered their 
confidence. In 453, Pericles set out with a contingent of ships 
and a thousand hoplites to repeat the operations of Tolmides. 
He again defeated the Sicyonians, and the Achaean communi- 
ties on the north coast of the Peloponnesus, thinking the cause 
of Corinth lost, joined the Athenians. Pericles also attempted 
to seize Oeniadae, the last Corinthian possession on the Ambra- 
cian Gulf ; but he could not take the citadel, and was obliged to 
retreat. Further, an attempt of the Athenians to occupy 
Thessaly up to the Macedonian frontier failed from the superi- 
ority of the Thessalian cavalry. 

The expedition of Pericles was the last enterprise in a war 
which had cost Athens great losses both in men and treasure. 
Temporary The richer Athenian citizens were much reduced 
Peace in in numbers. There was great discontent amongst 

Greece. the allies, and they showed signs of rebellion. It 

was clear that the ambitious designs formed by the democracy 
in 461 could not be carried out. Argos also became tired of 
an adventurous policy. She was thoroughly democratic in feel- 
ing, but she had no political ambition. She even sent an 
embassy to Susa to propose a renewal of her old friendship with 
Persia, which was favourably received by Artaxerxes. The 
feeling of Sparta against Athens was very bitter, but she could 
do little so long as Argos, Boeotia, and Megara fought on the 
other side. At length peace was made between Argos and Sparta 
for thirty years, but Athens could not be persuaded to make 
any further concessions than a five years' truce. When Cimon 



387b.c] HISTORY OF GREECE 103 

returned from his ostracism, he recognised the leadership of 
Pericles and the new order of things. At the same time he 
urged the view that it was necessary to do something to recover 
the prestige of Athens in the East, and in 449 he was placed 
at the head of an expedition against Cyprus. He LastExpedi- 
sent sixty of his two hundred ships to Egypt, tion against 
with a view of exciting an insurrection in that Persia, 
country ; with the rest he attacked Kition, the Phoenician 
capital. The Greek cities, of which Salamis was the chief, 
would have joined him, but, just as he was in the act of captur- 
ing Kition, he died. After his death, the peace party in Athens 
had their own way, being led by Pericles, who was the un- 
disputed master of the government. The fleet was recalled 
from Cyprus and Egypt, and Callias was sent to Susa with 
proposals of peace. A last glory crowned the final efforts of 
Athens. A Phoenician and Cilician fleet which attempted 
to prevent the withdrawal of the Athenians from Cyprus was 
entirely defeated, and a similar success attended them on land. 
This was the last battle and the last victory of the Persian war. 
Negotiations for peace now began in Susa. Callias offered to 
renounce Cyprus and Egypt, and to leave the great king master 
of the eastern Mediterranean, on the condition 
that he recognised the position of Athens and the , n a ii; aa 
freedom of the Persian Greeks. The great king 
was unwilling to surrender a Persian province, but he did not 
object to recognise the fact that the Athenians were masters of 
the coast of Asia Minor. Peace was made in these terms. 
The great king promised to send no ships from the Black Sea 
to the passage of the Bosphorus, nor in the ,south farther than 
the eastern frontier of Lycia, nor to bring an army nearer than 
a horse's gallop to the Asiatic coast, so that the coast of the 
Aegean and the Propontis was practically left to the Athenians. 
Nothing was actually surrendered, and there was no delimitation 
of frontiers ; there was nothing to prevent Greek cities from 
joining Persia if they pleased, a liberty which was used later in 
Cilicia and the Black Sea. Towns like Smyrna, which had not 
joined the Delian League, remained as before under Persian rule, 
but a limit was set to the tribute which might be exacted. The 
peace of Callias was not a formal treaty, nor was it announced at 
Athens as such. It was nothing more than an honourable 
understanding. Indeed, Callias was condemned to a fine of 
fifty talents for having been bribed by the great king. At the 
same time, he had gained all that could be expected. The 



104 A GENERAL HISTORY [478 b.c. to 

peace, if not a brilliant .success, was at least a substantial 
advantage, and when, years afterwards, it was seen to be so, 
there was a disposition to give it a higher place in the roll of 
Athenian success than it had any right to occupy. 

The Peace of Callias gave Athens time to breathe. She was 
able to turn her attention to internal affairs. Pericles set him- 
self to continue the buildings which had been begun by Cimon. 
At the same time, Athens lost some of her possessions on the 
mainland. Boeotia, with the exception of Plataea, which re- 
mained faithful to Athens, formed a league of its own of a 
moderate aristocratic character. This was the result of the 
battle of Coronea, fought in 447, in which Tolmides attempted, 
with an insufficient force, to defeat the anti- Athenian party, 
but was entirely routed. Tolmides himself fell, and with him 
the flower of the Athenian youth. Euboea and Megara fol- 
lowed the example of Boeotia. The Peloponnesians marched 
into Attica, and were only persuaded to depart by the bribes of 
The Thirty Pericles. At last, in 446, negotiations were 
Years' opened in Sparta. Athens was prepared to give 

Peace. U p a n ner possessions in the Peloponnesus. Even 

Corinth was satisfied. The peace, which bears the name of 
Pericles, was established for thirty years, perhaps a better plan 
than our own, which allows a treaty made for all eternity to be 
gradually violated till none of it exists. Aegina was left to 
Athens on the condition that she should enjoy practical 
autonomy with the payment of a tribute, the only advantage 
retained by Athens except the establishment of the Messenians 
in Naupactos. There was to be free intercourse between the 
contracting parties, and any disputed questions which might 
arise were to be submitted to arbitration. 

Now begins what is called the Periclean age, one of the 

most remarkable and brilliant periods in the whole history 

of the world. During that period, for fifteen 

p e - i^f ° years, Pericles was undisputed leader of the state, 

" wielding at will that fierce democratie," first 

citizen of the town, without force or fraud, without flattery or 

falseness, in a country governed by the lot, with no other 

weapon than that sweet persuasive eloquence which still sits 

on the lips of his marble bust, and, with the deep tenderness 

of his eyes, explains his magic power over the hearts and wills 

of men. The only advantage which he had over other citizens 

was that of being constantly chosen strategos, or general, 

which gave him an official seat in the Boule. We have already 



387b.c] HISTORY OF GREECE 105 

spoken of his origin and of his earlier measures, but it must be 
remembered that he was not only a general and a statesman, 
but a man devoted to the study of philosophy and art. In 
his hospitable house, where the brilliant Aspasia of Miletus 
kept her salon, all the great spirits of the time found their 
meeting place — Anaxagoras, Gorgias, Protagoras, Pheidias, 
Polygnotus, and the youthful Socrates. 

The strained relations which had existed so long between 
Athens and Sparta, between the supporters of the principles 
of aristocracy and democracy, will have prepared Renewal of 
us for a war. It came about in this way. War — Battle 
Corcyra attacked a colony of her own, Epidamnus, °f Sybote. 
on the Illyrian coast. Epidamnus sought assistance from 
Corinth, who retaliated on the Corcyreans. Corcyra turned 
for help to Athens, who did not refuse it. The result of this 
was the battle of Sybote between the Corcyreans and the 
Corinthians, in which the Athenians also took part. The 
battle was indecisive. At this time Potidaea, a Corinthian 
colony, which had joined the Athenian confederacy, was 
anxious to secede from it, but was coerced by the Athenians. 
The Corinthians urged the Spartans to intervene with the 
sword, and also to assist Aegina and Megara, who were im- 
patient of Athenian rule. The Spartans held a council for 
deliberation, in which ambassadors from Corinth and others 
were present. They decided against Athens, and the oracle 
of Delphi took the same side. A further council was held, 
to which all the allies of Sparta were summoned, and, in the 
autumn of 432, war was practically determined upon. The 
real cause, however, was the jealousy of Athenian power, and 
the natural opposition which arises in all communities, great 
and small, against the promoter of a new and higher ideal. 
The Spartans continually desired the fall of Pericles, the 
illustrious founder of the spiritual greatness of Athens, and 
the Athenians, who owed everything to him, were slack in 
his defence. Pericles succeeded in defending himself. Seeing 
that war was inevitable, he was in favour of taking up the 
challenge, and the popular assembly agreed with him. 

The war began in April 431 by three hundred Spartan 
aristocrats making a night attack on the city of Plataea in 
Boeotia, which belonged to the Athenian League. The Plataean 
democrats defeated them, and p\it a hundred and eight of 
them to death. The Athenians sent a garrison to Plataea, 
to defend it against the inevitable vengeance, although they 



106 A GENERAL HISTORY [478 b.c. to 

did not approve of the hasty action of their allies. There- 
upon Archidamus, king of Sparta, marched with sixty thousand 
First years troops into Attica, upon which, by the advice 
of the Pelo- of Pericles, the population left the country and 
ponnesian sought refuge in the Acropolis. Attica was laid 
War. waste. When those who had fallen in the first 

year of the war were buried in the Ceramicus, Pericles made 
over them a funeral oration which is, at once, a masterpiece 
of literature and the clearest exposition of the conflicting 
principles of the Athenian and Spartan governments. It re- 
mains for ever a monument of the aims which an enlightened 
democracy should strive to realise. The next year, 430, was 
taken up by the plague, which broke out with great violence 
in Athens and destroyed large numbers of citizens. Amongst 
them were the two brothers and the sister of Pericles, and, 
in September 429, Pericles himself fell a victim 

Pericles ^° ** a ^ ^ e a » e °^ ^- He was one of the 

greatest statesman that the world has ever seen ; 
his dying words were that no Athenian had ever worn mourning 
by his misdeeds. 

The death of Pericles was an irreparable loss, and the struggle 
now loses all interest. The aristocratic Nicias was opposed to 

the demagogue Cleon. Mitylene revolted from 
Nicias an Athens, but was recovered, whereupon Cleon had 

a thousand of the Lesbian aristocracy put to 
death. On the other hand, the Spartans captured Plataea 
after a three years' siege and rased it to the ground. In 427, 
Demosthenes occupied Pylos on the coast of Messenia, so that 
400 Spartan hoplites were cut off in the island of Sphacteria. 
The Spartans asked for peace, which was refused them, and 
the whole garrison were brought as prisoners to Athens. But 
in 424, the Athenians were defeated at Delium in Boeotia, 
a battle in which Alcibiades saved the life of Socrates. A 
worse disaster befell them in Chalcidice, where, in the battle 
of Amphipolis, fought in 422, the Athenians, who were led 
by Cleon, suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Brasidas, 
the best of the Spartan generals. Both Brasidas and Cleon 
were killed. This led to the Peace of Nicias, signed in April 
421, to last for fifty years, in which both sides gave up their 
conquests and released their prisoners. Disputes were to be 
settled by arbitration, and divided Greece was to be again one. 
The six years which followed, however, were full of trouble, 
caused chiefly by the conduct of Argos, which formed a league 



387 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 107 

of her own, and entered into alliance with Athens. They 
were also marked by the rise of Alcibiades, a man of daemonic 
brilliancy, but with passions and temper little under control 
—a personality born for the redemption or the destruction 
of his country. In August 418 was fought the battle of 
Mantinea, which insured the supremacy of Sparta over Argos. 

We now come to the terrible catastrophe of the Sicilian 
expedition, which put an end to the war. It was the work 
of Alcibiades, and bore the impress of his fatal 
genius. Nicias did all he could to prevent it, Expedition. 11 
but the people were excited by the prospect 
of conquering, first Syracuse, then Sicily, and then Italy, and 
lastly Africa. It was commanded by Alcibiades, Nicias, and 
Lamachus, but Alcibiades was unhappily recalled for private 
reasons, and the enterprise lost its most competent leader. 
The Spartans sent Gylippus, a forerunner of Todleben, to 
assist the Syracusans, and in 413, after a struggle of two years, 
the Athenians were entirely defeated in a battle in the great 
harbour. Nicias and Demosthenes were captured and executed, 
and 7000 Athenian prisoners were confined in the stone 
quarries, where the greater number of them perished by a 
miserable death. After this, Alcibiades obtained some bril- 
liant successes on the Aegean coast, and recovered for Athens 
the towns of Byzantium and Chalcedon. In 408, he returned 
to Athens after an absence of six years, was received with 
acclamation, and was made general with unrestricted power ; 
but his enemies overthrew him, and the command of the fleet 
was entrusted to Conon with nine others. In 406, they suc- 
ceeded in gaining a brilliant victory at Arginusae over the 
Spartans, who were commanded by Callicratidas, the last success 
of Athens in the war. But in the following year Lysander 
avenged this by the entire destruction of the Athenian fleet 
at Aegospotami, and the fate of Athens was Battle of 
decided. Conon succeeded in escaping with Aegos- 
ten ships to Cyprus, but Lysander immediately potami. 
sailed to the Piraeus and blockaded Athens, whilst Pausanias 
attacked it from the land side. In 404, the city had to yield 
to the pressure of famine. The Athenians were compelled 
to deliver up all their ships excepting twelve, to End of the 
rase the long walls and the fortifications of the Pelopon- 
Piraeus to the ground, and to set up an oligarchy of nesian War. 
thirty men, generally called the Thirty Tyrants, whose authority 
was supported by a Spartan garrison. The territory of Athens 



io8 A GENERAL HISTORY [478 b.c. to 

was restricted to Attica, and she was compelled to enter the 
Spartan League. Thus, after thirty years, the Peloponnesian 
war came to an end, and the hegemony of Greece passed to the 
hands of Sparta. 

The government of the Thirty was a reign of terror. With 

Critias at their head, they exercised their wrath against the 

adherents of the democratic party, and attacked 

rnVjp fPVjj T*tv • L */ > 

T rant ^ e ^ ves an( ^ property of all those whom they 

suspected of being opposed to them or who 
were denounced by informers. Alcibiades was a victim of 
their vengeance. He first withdrew to his possessions in Thrace, 
but was obliged to take refuge with Pharnabazus, the Persian 
satrap, by whom he was received with kindness, but was after- 
wards murdered at the instance of Lysander. At last, Thera- 
menes, one of the Thirty, was overthrown by Critias, just as 
Danton was overthrown by Robespierre, and had to drink 
the hemlock. However, in 403, the oligarchy was attacked by 
Thrasybulus, who, at the head of a body of exiles, occupied 
Democracy Ph} 7 l e > and, attacking the Piraeus, in the de- 
restored in fence of which Critias was killed, put an end to 
Athens. th e reign of terror, granted a general amnesty, 

and re-established the Solonian constitution. Three yeais 
later, in 399, under the restored democracy, 
ocra es. ^ e g re at Socrates was tried as a corrupter of 
youth, and was condemned to drink the hemlock. The Delphic 
oracle, with more than usual truth and insight, had declared 
him to be the wisest of Greeks. It is difficult to understand 
why he was murdered, except that it is a fate which befalls 
most prophets who are before their age, and who spend their 
lives in benefiting humanity. Perhaps it is more remarkable 
that he was allowed to live till he was seventy years of age. 
But, during the 2300 years which have succeeded his execution, 
his spirit has reigned over the minds and hearts of men with 
a despotic supremacy. His defence and the story of his last 
days are masterpieces of literature, and his disciple Plato 
remains as the most powerful assertor of ideal optimism. 

After the fall of Athens, Sparta not only became the head of 

all the states of the Greek continent, but also reduced by her 

fleet the islands and the colonies of Asia Minor, 

Spartan ^ made them dependent upon her. At this 

time a civil war took place in Persia. Cyrus 

the Younger, who was viceroy of Asia Minor, attacked his 

brother Artaxerxes, with a view to dragging him from the 



387 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 109 

throne and taking his place. In this expedition he was assisted 
by 14,000 Greek mercenaries, chiefly Spartans, whom he had 
taken into his pay. He was entirely defeated in the battle of 
Cunaxa, in the neighbourhood of Babylon, in 401, 
and he met his death at the hands of his brother. c 
Tissaphernes, the chief general of Artaxerxes, 
promised the Greeks a safe return to their country, but 
during the negotiations he treacherously murdered the Greek 
generals, including Clearchus, the commander-in-chief. Xeno- 
phon, an Athenian, took up the command, and led the ten 
thousand men who remained safely back. He himself wrote 
an attractive account of the exploit in the well known "Ana- 
basis." The Greeks of Asia Minor had supported 

TVio 4i Ana 

Cyrus in his revolt, and they were therefore r . ,, 
cruelly treated by Tissaphernes. They turned for 
assistance to Sparta, who, in 399, sent Thymbrotus and Dachyl- 
lydes to Asia with a force to assist them, and afterwards King 
Agesilaus himself, who carried on the war with such success 
that he defeated the satraps Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus in 
two battles, and even threatened Sardis. In order to create a 
diversion, the Persians used Timocrates of Rhodes to stir up a 
rebellion against the supremacy of Sparta, for which Persian 
gold was freely used. In 398, Boeotia, Corinth, and Argos were 
gradually, by means of bribes, induced to rebel against Sparta 
and to join the Persians. This gave rise to what is known as 
the Boeoto-Corinthian war, which lasted till 387, Athens 
eventually taking part in it. In order to suppress it, the 
Spartan general Lysander was sent into Boeotia, but was 
completely defeated at the battle of Haliartns . .. 
and was himself slain. The victory of Haliartus Spartan 
filled the enemies of Sparta with confidence and League- 
courage. A league was formed between Thebes, Battle of 
Athens, Corinth, and Argos, of which the capital Haliartus. 
was placed at Corinth, with the object of overthrowing the 
supremacy of Sparta. It was joined by another league com- 
posed of other Greeks, especially from the north, and Medios, 
dynast of Larissa in Thessaly, brought his forces to the common 
stock. The important island of Rhodes was also induced to 
desert the Spartan League, mainly by the influence of the 
Athenian Conon, who had gone to Susa, and persuaded King 
Artaxerxes to support him with money and ships. The Spartans 
were obliged to recall Agesilaus from Asia ; though they occupied 
Sicyon, and inflicted a severe defeat on the allies at Nemea, 



no A GENERAL HISTORY [478 B .c. to 

which, to some extent, repaired the disaster of Haliartus. 

Agesilaus left Asia Minor with a heavy heart, and on his way 

Battles of home heard of the entire destruction of the Spartan 

Nemea, fleet, by Conon and Pharnabazus, in the battle 

Cnidus, and of Cnidus. Nothing dismayed, he attacked the 

Coronea. allies in the plain of Coronea, and gained a signal 

victory, putting the Argives to flight and entirely breaking up 

the Thebans. The field was soaked with blood, and strewn 

with the corpses of friend and foe, with broken shields and 

spears and swords, some lying on the ground, some in the dead 

hands of those who had wielded them. Agesilaus, who was 

himself wounded, retired home by Delphi, where he made an 

offering of a hundred talents, and was received with enthusiasm 

at Sparta. 

In this manner, while Sparta regained her supremacy by 
land, she lost the mastery of the sea. Conon and Pharnabazus 
Exploits of pursued their victorious course, and the Athenian 
Conon and admiral was able to return in triumph to Athens 
Iphicrates. and to mark his success by the restoration of the 
Ions walls and the reunion of Piraeus with Athens. The 
Athenians were now excited to new efforts. They regained their 
influence in the Hellespont ; their general, Iphicrates, formed a 
body of light armed troops, called peltasts from the light round 
shield which they carried, which became formidable opponents 
to the heavily armed hoplites ; in 392, though the allies were 
defeated by the Spartans at Lechaeum, the effects of the battle 
were neutralised by Iphicrates, who did wonders with his peltasts. 
After all, the last hopes of victory lay in securing the assistance 
of the Persians, and, for this purpose, the Spartans sent to 
Sardis a clever and astute diplomatist, Antalcidas, who promised 
that the towns of Asia Minor should be left to the mercy of the 
great king, provided that he put an end to the civil war in 
Greece. Conon rejected with scorn the unworthy proposal, but 
was put in prison by Tiribazus. 

Meanwhile the war continued. Iphicrates gained some suc- 
cesses in the Hellespont, but the Spartans made an attack on 
Aegina and the coast of Attica, where they were opposed by 
Chabrias, a general of the school of Iphicrates. But there 
was a widespread desire for peace. The astute Antalcidas was 
working in Asia, and succeeded in bringing the Persians over to 
his side. In Athens, the orator Andocides strove in favour of 
peace. In Corinth and Argos, the wasted fields spoke elo- 
quently on the same side, a,nd even Thebes and Sparta required 



387 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE in 

rest. In 387, Tiribazus issued invitations for a general con- 
gress at Sardis. Artaxerxes made the proposal that the towns 
in Asia should belong to him together with Clazo- 
menae and Cyprus, and that the rest of the Greek frit, ? °d 
states, great and small, should all be autonomous, 
with the exception of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, which should 
belong to Athens as heretofore. These disgraceful proposals 
were accepted in the autumn of 387, and the Greek cities on 
the coast of Asia Minor, which had been the cradle of Greek 
culture, from which the Greeks of the mainland had learnt 
what they knew of literature and art, became subjects of the 
Persian empire, against which Greece had contended for 
freedom for more than a hundred years. But Greece itself was 
saved, and the progress of Asiatic power towards the west was 
stopped for ever. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HISTORY OF GREECE, 387-338 B.C. 

The Peace of Antalcidas seemed to promise Greece a period of 
rest for many years, but this condition was threatened by the 
Tyranny ambition of Sparta, and the narrow and repulsive 

of the character of its government. Diodorus, the his- 

Spartans. torian, tells us that the Spartans, loving mastery 
and war, could not endure the peace, which was a heavy burden 
to them, but desired a change which should restore to them 
their previous mastery over Hellas. Their feelings found 
powerful expression in the person of Agesilaus, who said that 
in the peace the Spartans had not Medised, but rather the 
Persians had Laconised. The first victim of this spirit was the 
Arcadian city of Mantinea, which was attacked and entirely 
destroyed by the Spartans in 385. Another democratic city, 
Phlius, was attacked in the following year, and after a gallant 
resistance of four years was obliged to submit to aristocratic 
government. The Spartans, not content with their hegemony 
over the Peloponnesus, attempted to extend their influence 
over the triple peninsula of Chalcidice, which lay at the door of 
Macedonia and Thrace. To meet this, Olynthus placed herself 
at the head of a Chalcidican confederacy, which was, however, 
resisted by Acanthus and Apollonia, when Olynthus endeavoured 
to extend the arrangement to them. Acanthus applied to 
Sparta, which determined to intervene, and the Olynthian 
war, which lasted for three years (383-380), began. 
The Olyj 1 - Eudamidas hastened to the scene of action, sup- 
ported by Amyntas, king of Macedonia, a country 
which now became entangled with the politics of Greece ; and 
he would probably have subdued Olynthus had not circum- 
stances arisen in Thebes of which we shall presently give an 
account. Teleutias, king of Sparta, and his distinguished 
brother Agesilaus devoted themselves to this enterprise in suc- 
ceeding years, and, in 360, Olynthus was compelled to submit. 
But the unexpected happened in Thebes. Here, as in other 



387-338 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE ii3 

cities; the aristocrats were supported by Sparta, but the town 
was now democratic. When Phoebidas,the brotherof Endamidas, 
was marching towards Chalcidice, Leontiadas, the 
leader of the Theban aristocracy, approached him . ^h"*) 1011 
with a proposal that the city should be seized 
by a coup d'etat and restored to Spartan influence. On a hot 
summer day in 383, when the women were holding a festival 
on the citadel of the Cadmeia, and the town council was de- 
liberating in the market hall, Phoebidas marched through the 
deserted streets, occupied the Cadmeia, and took the women 
as hostages. He also broke into the council hall, seized the 
polemarch Ismenias, and put him in prison in irons. The 
democrats, to the number of 400, led by Pelopiclas and Andro- 
cleidas, marched off to Athens, while Leontiadas took the 
opportunity of establishing a strong oligarchical government, and 
went to Sparta to seek the support of the ephors. Sparta sent 
a garrison of 1500 men, and established a reign of terror, while 
Ismenias was condemned to death under a false accusation. 

The defeat of Olynthus and the capture of Thebes produced 
great excitement throughout Hellas, which saw in these events a 
breach of the Peace of Antalcidas. This feeling was supported 
by the Athenian orators Lysias and Isocrates, and was strongly 
condemned by Xenophon. The Theban exiles were well received 
in Athens. Pelopidas did his best to stir up the youth' of 
Thebes to resistance, as Mazzini, in our own day, stirred up the 
youth of Italy. Pelopidas acquired a valuable 
colleague in the person of Epaminondas, both of ^ 

them belonging to distinguished families in the city. At last, at 
the close of 379, about three or four hundred exiles assembled 
in the neighbourhood of Thria, on the frontier between Boeotia 
and Attica. About twelve of them, including Pelopidas, Mellon, 
and Damocleides, were chosen to go forward and murder the 
tyrants of their home. They crossed Citheron in disguise, and 
reached Thebes on a winter's day when a snow-storm was 
raging. They entered the town singly, by different gates, and 
met in the house of one Charon, where they passed the night. 
It was arranged that, in the following night, Phyllidas, who 
was trusted by the oligarchs, should invite the polemarchs to a 
banquet, where the deed should be perpetrated. When every- 
thing was ready, knocks were heard at the door, and Charon 
was summoned before the polemarchs. Charon, leaving his 
young son as a hostage, hastened to the house of Phyllidas, and 
found Archias and Philippus drinking heavily. He succeeded 

H 



H4 A GENERAL HISTORY [3S7 b.o. to 

in allaying their suspicions, and returned. Scarcely had he 
left the house when a letter was brought denouncing the con- 
spirators and giving their names. But Archios put the letter 
aside with the remark, " Business to-morrow." 

Phyllidas had promised the revellers that they should have 

women for their entertainment, and he now introduced into 

the banqueting hall some of the conspirators, 

Counter- - n women ' s clothes and veiled, including Mellon 

Revolution. . _.. m . . ' ,, . ° , 

and Charon. I he conspirators drew their daggers, 

and fell upon their half -drunken victims. Archias and Philippus 
fell at once, but Cabeirichos gave them some trouble. Leontiadas 
was attacked by Pelopidas, while he was lying in bed with his 
wife sleeping by his side. He defended himself bravely, but 
was at length overcome. After the chiefs of the oligarchy had 
fallen, the conspirators proceeded to the prison, and set the 
prisoners free, 150 in number, among them one who was destined 
for execution on the following day. They then proclaimed in 
the market-place that the tyrants were murdered and the town 
was free. When all was confusion, Epaminondas and Gorgidas 
appeared upon the scene and restored order. Epaminondas had 
been careful not to stain his hands with blood. 

The break of day witnessed a scene of jubilant excitement. 
The popular assembly met again after a long suspension. The 
leaders of the conspiracy were publicly thanked in the name of 
the gods, and decorated with garlands. Pelopidas, Mellon, and 
Charon were appointed Boeotarclis, a formal sign that the 
arrangements of the Peace of Antalcidas were at an end. The 
political emigrants returned from exile. Athens sent a con- 
tingent of 5000 men under Demophron. In a short time an 
army was got together of 12,000 hoplites and 2000 cavalry, and 
at last the Lacedaemonian garrison on the Cadmeia was 
compelled to evacuate the citadel. 

The Boeotian war now followed, which, after lasting for seven 

years, was terminated by the battle of Leuctra in 371. At the 

beginning of the war, Sphodrias attempted to 

The Boeotian g a j n possession of the Piraeus by a night attack, 

but failed in his enterprise. The Athenians made 

an offensive and defensive alliance with Thebes, and strengthened 

Anti- their navy. In the new league which was now 

Spartan formed, all states, large and small, had the right 

League. f sitting and voting at the assembly, which 

met regularly at Athens and provided for the sinews of war. 

This league consisted of seventy towns ; which included Chios, 



338 B.c.l HISTORY OF GREECE 115 

Rhodes, Byzantium, Mitylene, and Leuctra. New financial 
arrangements were made by the creation of symmories, which 
increased the speed and activity of collecting the smaller con- 
tributions. As generals, Iphicrates and Chabrias were very 
prominent, and also Timotheus the son of Oonon. Thebes on 
her side strengthened her army by the creation of a Sacred 
Company of three hundred young warriors, bound together by 
love, friendship, and similarity of opinions, who were a pattern 
and a stimulus to the other soldiers. Agesilaus invaded Boeotia 
in 378. Besides the Thebans, he now had to contend against 
a body of 5000 mixed citizens and hoplite mercenaries, sent by 
Athens under the command of Chabrias. He could do nothing 
against them, and was obliged to retire, leaving Phoebidas, 
the original author of the war in Thespise, but he was eventually 
slain by Gorgidas. In the following year, Agesilaus invaded 
Boeotia again, but had no more success than in his previous 
attempt. More was effected at sea, where Chabrias, and his 
young lieutenant, Phocion, gained a brilliant victory over the 
Spartans at Naxos in 376. In the following year a similar 
disaster befell the Spartans at Leucas. The Athenians, how- 
ever, began to wish for peace, as the cost of the war was very 
heavy, and the Thebans did not pay their share. Their own 
sympathy with the Boeotians, too, began to cool, and they felt 
some jealousy at their success. 

The consequence of this was an approach towards Sparta. 
Both countries took the matter in hand, and Jason of Pherae, a 
powerful prince with a fine army of 6000 men, p eace q 011 
and large possessions, acted as mediator. The gress at 
result was that a peace congress was held at Sparta- 
Sparta in June 371, the upshot of which was a Thebes 
peace from which Thebes was excluded. King isolated. 
Cleombrotus now marched into Boeotia with a large army, and 
Epaminondas, to intercept him, occupied the passes of Coronea. 
But, hearing that he had gone by another road into the plain of 
Leuctra, he marched to meet him, having only six thousand 
hoplites against ten thousand, and four hundred cavalry against 
a thousand. Epaminondas did his best to revive the courage of 
his troops. There was a legend that Leuctra was to be the 
grave of the Spartan hegemony, and this inspired them with 
confidence. The same legend demoralised the Spartans, and 
they desired to wait for reinforcements, but were overruled. 

The battle began on July 3, 371, immediately after breakfast. 
Against the right wing, where Cleombrotus was posted with his 



n6 A GENERAL HISTORY [387 b.c. to 

Spartans, Epaminondas placed the kernel of his troops, formed 
in a phalanx fifty men deep and protected by the Sacred Com- 
pany of Pelopidas. The right wing of the Theban 
Batt e o army, which was opposed to the Lacedaemonian 

allies, was refused, as if Epaminondas wished to 
avoid the struggle on this side. The battle opened with a con- 
test of cavalry, in which the Spartans, although superior in 
numbers, were defeated and driven back on their supports. 
The general then ordered his phalanx to advance, the Spartans 
opening their lines and wheeling round as they came so as to 
take them in the flank. Not being able to do this, they retired 
to their previous position, and Epaminondas continued his 
attack. The Spartans fought bravely, and phalanx rushed 
against phalanx, neither party being able to advance. " Only 
give me a foot ! " cried Epaminondas. The slaughter in the 
neighbourhood of the king was terrible, and Cleombrotus himself 
fell. As the polemarchs, Deinon and Sphodrias, had already 
been killed, the Spartans began to give way, and the Lacedae- 
monian allies on the left followed their example. The defeat 
of the Lacedaemonians was complete. The news of the disaster 
reached Sparta while a public festival was in progress, which 
it was determined not to interrupt, and hence it was- not 
published till the next day. But Epaminondas had allowed a 
free departure to the conquered army, and when they reached 
their homes in haste they fell under the ban of deserters, 
whose punishment was to be deprived of civic rights and to be 
subjected to universal contempt. But their number was so 
large that King Agesilaus was obliged to say, " Let the law go 
to sleep to-day and wake up again to-morrow morning." 

Epaminondas was intent upon the destruction of the Spartan 
power, and the outlook was, indeed, favourable. A third of 
the Spartiates had perished in the battle of Leuctra, the helots 
and the Messenians began to throw off the Spartan yoke, the 
democrats in Elis and Mantinea took up arms. The aristocrats 
in Tegea were murdered or exiled, and in Argos the mob rose, 
and knocked on the head with clubs 1200 or 1500 of the 
respectable citizens, oligarchs and democrats alike. This club 
law was called Skytalismos, and filled the Athenians with such 
horror that they broke off all communication 

L h a B ue 0tian with tbe city wllicn nad so disg^ced itself. As 

Sparta fell, Thebes began to rise, and the Boeotian 

League took the place of the Lacedaemonian. It was joined by 

Pbocis, Aetolia, Locris, Acarnania, Euboea, and other places, and 



338 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 117 

Thespiae, which opposed it, was destroyed. Jason of Pherae, its 
principal antagonist, was murdered. As the Boeotian League 
formed a democratic counterpoise to the power of the princes of 
Thessaly and the kings of Macedonia, so a rival to the power 
of Sparta was formed by the pastoral Arcadians, who lived a 
simple life in their mountains, the Swiss of the Peloponnesus. 
They formed a democratic confederacy, and, as it was necessary 
to have a capital, they united forty villages into a city and 
called it Megalopolis, the Great City, just as 
Alessandria was founded as the capital of the ^? a °" 
Lombard League. The republic was governed by 
an assembly of " Ten Thousand," who elected archons with 
power over peace and war, diplomacy, finance, and justice, and 
who nominated the generals. It had a standing army of 
Eparitoi, or selected troops, and its revenue was derived from 
a hut tax, paid by the possessors of cattle for the use of the 
almends or common lands. 

It was not likely that this republic would be allowed to 
come into being without a struggle, and Megalopolis, like Ales- 
sandria, had to fight for its existence. The oligarchs of Tegea 
and Orchomenos rose against it, but the Arcadians, with 
Mantinea at their head, sought the assistance of Thebes. 
Agesilaus marched into the territory of Tegea and Mantinea, 
but retired at the approach of the Theban allies. Indeed, 
Epaminondas, Pelopidas, and their adherents came Epami- 
to Mantinea with a force of 15,000 heavy armed nondas in 
troops. They ought, properly, to have retired the Pelo- 
when their object was accomplished ; but the ponnesus. 
opportunity was too favourable to be missed, and they deter- 
mined to attack Sparta and destroy her for ever. The allied 
army, with 10,000 hoplites and other troops besides, marched 
into the Laconian plain. Sparta shook with terror and anguish, 
for no hostile army had violated her territory for five hundred 
years. Epaminondas, marching south along the eastern bank 
of the Eurotas, wasted the country with fire and sword, and the 
sight of the destructive flames was accompanied by the cries of 
women and children and the lamentations of the old men. But 
Agesilaus once more proved himself the saviour of his country ; 
assisted by his knowledge of the ground, he de- Agesilaus 
feated Epaminondas in several engagements, so saves 
that, when he heard that Sicyon, Epidaurus, Sparta. 
Corinth, and Phlius were marching to the assistance of Sparta, 
he thought it prudent to retreat. Thus the town of Sparta was 



n8 A GENERAL HISTORY [387 b.c. to 

saved, but Epaminondas crossed the range of Taygetus and 
carried out a long cherished plan of restoring Messenia to 
freedom. He rebuilt Messene at the foot of Ithome, sacred to 
liberty, and collected together the scattered Messenians, who 
had been without a home for three hundred years. They were 
now able to take part in the Olympian games as an independent 
state. The restored Messenia, together with Megalopolis, 
Tegea, and Argos, encircled Sparta, and made her powerless for 
evil; but, in spite of this, there was no force which could unite 
the scattered communities and arm them for a single effort. 
It can hardly be believed that the victorious Epaminondas was 
attacked on his way home by Athens, who was acting as an ally 
of Sparta, and that when he reached Thebes he was subjected 
to an accusation for a breach of the laws, and was with some 
difficulty declared innocent. 

Such was the jealousy of the rising power of Thebes that 
Athens and Sparta formed an alliance against her, and Epami- 
nondas was obliged to march a second time into the Pelopon- 
nesus with an army of 8000 hoplites ; but in accordance with 
the Boeotian constitution he had to lay down his command and 
return to Thebes, where he was not restored to the office which 
he had held, but was given the charge over roads and canals. 
Pelopidas In the meantime, Pelopidas was engaged in the 
in Northern north, where he had gone, partly to put a stop 
Greece. to the rebellion of Alexander of Pherae, and partly 

to settle a dispute in the royal house of Macedonia. Here he 
placed Alexander on the throne of his father Amyntas, made 
an alliance with his kingdom, and carried back to Thebes thirty 
hostages, among whom was Philip, the brother of Alexander. 
The settlement he had made lasted but a short time. Alexander 
of Macedon was murdered by his step-mother Eurydice, and his 
second son, Perdiccas, was placed on the throne, while the other 
Alexander, of Pherae, renewed his atrocities. Marching again 
into Macedonia, Pelopidas was able to effect an arrangement, but 
on his return he was intercepted by Alexander of Pherae and 
thrown into prison. Eventually Epaminondas was able to set 
him free. It is worth mentioning that Gallic and Spanish 
mercenaries in the pay of Dionysius of Syracuse fought on the 
side of Epaminondas in his second expedition to the Pelopon- 
nesus. 

In the meantime, Persia was anxious to reconcile the Greeks, 
and to give effect to the provisions of the Peace of Antalcidas. 
Philiskos of Abydos went to Delphi, representing the viceroy 



338B.C] HISTORY OF GREECE 119 

of Lydia and Ionia, with this object, but failed because Thebes 
would not dissolve the Boeotian League or surrender Messenia 
to Sparta. Upon this a number of Greek states, 
Athens and Sparta among them, sent embassies p 1C 7 ° 
to Susa with the same ob 4 The supremacy of 

Thebes had been recognised at the Persian court ever since the 
battle of Leuctra, and Artaxerxes now said that all the Greek 
states, including Messenia, should be free and independent, that 
the Athenians should surrender their ships, and that any one 
who disobeyed should be coerced by force, that is, by Thebes. 
This was of course rejected by the other states, and the con- 
dition of anarchy continued. In 361, Epaminondas undertook 
a third expedition to the Peloponnesus, but was 
recalled by the action of his own countrymen. Greece ^ "* 
It is needless to continue this description of the 
battle of kites and crows. A sign of the lawlessness of the 
times is to be found in the fact that a war between Arcadia 
and Elis was actually continued during the holy time of the 
Olympian games. Pelopidas was killed in an expedition against 
the bloodthirsty tyrant of Pherae. He set out on the day of 
an eclipse of the sun, which science fixes on June 13, 364. An 
end was put to the stormy life of Alexander by his wife Thebe, 
who persuaded her brother to murder him. The sea power of 
Athens began to exhibit signs of recovery, and Epaminondas 
conceived plans for the building of a Theban fleet, which indeed 
succeeded in securing the revolt of Kos, Chios, Rhodes, and 
Byzantium from Athens. But, unfortunately, the Theban 
leader did not possess the art of forming a strong confederacy, 
for he lacked political insight and the power of making wise 
compromises. 

In 362, Epaminondas was compelled to undertake another 
expedition to the Peloponnesus, where he was joined by the 
troops of Argos, Arcadia, and Messene, while his 
opponents collected in Mantinea. In the absence Mantinea, 
of Agesilaus, Epaminondas attacked Sparta, and, 
indeed, penetrated as far as the market-place, but was driven 
back from the higher ground. A decisive battle took place 
at Mantinea in August 362. Epaminondas was superior in 
strength to his opponents ; he commanded 30,000 hoplites and 
3000 cavalry, against 20,000 hoplites and 2000 cavalry of 
the enemy. He attempted to use the tactics which had 
been so successful at Leuctra, placing his strength on his left 
and making a feint with his right. The plan was successful, 



120 A GENERAL HISTORY [387 b.c. to 

and the enemy retired in confusion at the first onslaught, but, 
in the very moment of victory, Epaminondas was pierced by a 
spear, which broke off in the wound. He was carried off the 
battle-field, but his fall disorganised his troops, and the battle 
Death of remained undecided. Both sides claimed the 
Epami- victory. Epaminondas lay on a wooded height 

nondas. overlooking the battle, having been told by the 
doctor that the drawing out of the spear would be fatal. At 
last they brought his shield, which had been lost in the battle, 
and told him that the Thebans had won the victory. He said, 
"Now it is time to die." When he heard that his generals, 
Diaphantos and Iolaidas, were dead, he advised that peace 
should be made, and, with a cheerful countenance, drew out 
the spear from his heart and gave up the ghost. His darling 
friend, Kephisodorus, had fallen by his side, and was buried 
with him. When his friends complained that he had no 
children, he said, " I leave behind me two blooming daughters, 
the battles of Leuctra and Mantinea." Thus perished the most 
gifted general, the noblest character, the staunchest patriot, 
but perhaps not the greatest statesman, of the Greek world. 
He was surrounded by friends, and even his enemies praised 
him. He died as a sacrifice for Hellas' independence. After 
his death, peace was made according to his advice, but Sparta 
continued in her position of isolation. 

Agesilaus did not long survive his great adversary. In the 
following year he went to Egypt to assist Tachos and Nektanabis 
in a revolt against Persia, to avenge the conduct 
A^es'laus °^ Artaxerxes, who had proclaimed the independ- 
ence of Messenia. But the expedition resulted 
in failure, and Agesilaus, now eighty years of age, having re- 
ceived rich revenues from Nektanabis, set out to return home 
by way of Cyrene, but died in the passage. Athens took the 
opportunity of restoring her fleet, and recovered Euboea, Chios, 
Samos, Rhodes, and most of the islands of the Aegean. She also 
strengthened her position in Chalcidice, Macedonia, and the 
Thracian Gulf, and made propositions for extending her power 
to the Hellespont and the Black Sea. But the revival of 
prosperity brought with it the recrudescence of jealousy. The 
influence of the Greek, and especially of the Athenian character 
again showed itself, and the second Athenian League ended, as 
the first had done, in a social war, although it had, at one time, 
included seventy cities in its embrace. 

Macedonia now becomes the most important power in Greece. 



338 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 121 

It consists of a high tableland surrounded by mountains, with 
a number of fruitful valleys, and well-watered pastures. In 
the south there is a difficult pass over the Cam- . 

bunian mountains, of which Olympus is the highest 
point, into the valley of the Peneus. It is separated from 
Epirus by Mount Pindus, which afterwards turns to the north 
with a rocky ridge, whose summits reach from 5000 to 8000 
feet, whence it has the name of Skardos. In the east, we find 
the mountains of Rhodope, with Pangaeus, forming the water- 
shed between the Strymon and the Hebrus. Rivers flow from 
these heights, bearing the names of Haliacmon, Lydias, Axios, 
and Strymon. The interior is raw and cold ; rivers and lakes 
are covered with ice in winter ; but some valleys are very fertile 
and beautiful. It was originally inhabited by a number of 
tribes of whose origin we know little, but at last the supremacy 
came into the hands of the Macedonians, a small, vigorous 
community, who had, from time immemorial, pastured their 
herds in the upper valleys of the Haliacmon and Erigon, whether 
they were of Hellenic or of barbarous origin being uncertain. 
At any rate their kings were supposed to belong to the race of 
the Heracleidae, and were therefore admitted to the Olympic 
games. 

Edessa, otherwise called Aegae, was regarded as the original 
home of the kingdom, the holy hearth of the state, with the 
burial-place of its kings. It was described as a lonely spot at 
the foot of Mount Bermios, the seat of the garden of Midas, 
where every rose had sixty petals and a ravishing smell. 
Perdiccas is mentioned by Herodotus as the first king and the 
founder of the Macedonian empire. He lived at the beginning 
of the seventh century B.C. He and his four immediate 
successors extended their dominions from Aegae, over the valley 
of the Axios and the coast land, subduing the Pierians, the 
Bottioeans, and the Mygdonians. In this manner, the boundaries 
of the Macedonian kingdom were extended to Olympus and the 
Cambunian mountains in the south, to the Strymon in the 
east. Amyntas I., who reigned from 540 to 498, checked 
the advance of the Persians. His son Alexander (498 to 454) 
whom we have already mentioned, was a most noble and 
charming personality. Under the reign of Perdiccas II., one 
of his four sons, who reigned from 454 to 413, the Albanians 
succeeded in getting possession of Thrace and Chalcidice, and in 
founding Amphipolis, which was almost surrounded by the 
Strymon. For a time Macedonia paid a tribute to Athens, but 



122 A GENERAL HISTORY [387 b.c. to 

Perdiccas put an end to this, and used the Peloponnesian war 
to recover his independence. He also gained considerable 
power over Thrace. 

Macedonia entered more closely into the stream of Grecian 
life in the reign of Archelaos (413 to 399), who conquered Pydna 

with the help of Athens, and changed the capital 
Archelaos °^ ^ e kingdom from Aegae to Pella. He did a 

great deal for the civilisation of his country, and 
introduced Greek culture. Many distinguished Greeks visited 
his court — among them Hippocrates the physician, Zeuxis the 
painter, Euripides the dramatist, as well as Agathon, Choerilos, 
and Timotheus, the harp player. Thucydides probably visited 
Archelaos, and Socrates was invited, but answered by saying 
that in Athens four measures of meal cost only an obol, and 
that good water could be had for nothing. Plato was also very 
intimate with Archelaos. This excellent king was murdered 
by two of his favourites, and, after a short period of anarchy, 

was succeeded by Amyntas III. (389 to 369), who 
is buc- married Eurydice, a daughter of the prince of the 

Lyncestians, a tribe who lived in the mountains. 
He is said to have been murdered, at the instigation of his 
faithless wife, by her lover, Ptolemaos. Alexander II., who 
succeeded his father, was opposed by the favourite of his 
mother, but was established in his rights by Pelopidas ; but no 
sooner had Pelopidas turned his back than Ptolemaos divorced 
his own wife, married Eurydice, and murdered the young king. 
They reigned together for three years as guardians of the two 
younger sons of Amyntas, Perdiccas and Philip. Perdiccas III., 
as soon as he was old enough, seized the throne, and held it 
for five years, but he also perished by the baleful arts of 

Eurydice, leaving a child Amyntas. Philip, his 
1 1 **' younger brother, had lived for three years as a 
hostage in Thebes, and was destined to become the saviour of 
his country and the creator of its greatness. He assumed the 
government at the age of twenty-three, as the guardian of his 
young nephew, and, in two years, set it free from the numerous 
enemies who surrounded it. Pie was a past master in the art 
of subduing his enemies by dividing them. He bribed the 
Thracians, flattered the Athenians, attacked the Illyrians, and 
conquered their king Bardylis, and compelled him to surrender all 
his territory as far as Lake Lychnis. The claims of Amyntas 
the child were disregarded, and when he attempted to enforce 
them under Alexander he was put to death. 



338 b.c.] HISTORY OF GREECE 123 

The first necessity for Philip was to create a powerful army, 
and for this his residence in Thebes had taught him the 
superiority of the phalanx ; but he also surrounded The 
himself with a chosen bodyguard formed out of Macedonian 
the young nobles of his court. The phalanx was army, 
armed with a short sword, a spear twenty feet long called 
a sarissa, and a large shield, and proved nearly irresistible. 
Besides this, he had light armed bowmen from the mountains, 
and a smaller body armed with a light shield, called aspis. He 
devoted himself to the care of his army with the greatest 
energy, knowing that his salvation depended upon it. He 
was a remarkable personality, endowed with every bodily and 
mental excellence, untiring in labour, a friend of statesmen 
and warriors, a powerful orator and a cheery companion, a 
master of all the arts of war and government from his first 
occupation of the throne. 

At this time, the condition of Greece was one of great 
confusion. In the Peloponnesus the cities distrusted and 
hated each other and were full of alarm against 
Sparta, who would not acknowledge the new y°^ usi0n 
creations of Megalopolis and Messene, and was 
yet not strong enough to destroy them. In Arcadia, these two 
cities were in constant feud. Corinth was subjected to a kind 
of tyrant, by name Timophanes, who occupied the fortress of 
Acrocorinthus with a body of mercenaries until he was slain by 
his brother Timoleon. Athens was better off. By the energy 
of Iphicrates and Timotheus, the number of towns in the 
league had been increased to seventy, and it was further 
strengthened by the adhesion of Euboea. But Athens exercised 
her power with great severity, and her army was largely com- 
posed of mercenaries instead of citizens. This state of things 
was denounced by Phocion and Demosthenes, the great orator, 
who now began to make his appearance. Athens suffered a 
serious loss in the death of Chabrias, who fell in a battle 
against Mausolus, the powerful sovereign of Caria. He might 
have saved himself by swimming, but was too proud to leave 
his ship. In the war with her allies, which lasted three years 
(358 to 355), the results were very unfavourable to Athens. 
Her navy was destroyed, the tribute which she received from 
members of the league was reduced to forty-five talents, and 
Philip took advantage of her weakened condition to increase 
his empire. 

He began by taking Pydna, Potidaea, and Amphipolis, and, 



124 A GENERAL HISTORY [387 b.c. to 

when he knew how easily the Greeks were accessible to 
bribery, used this weapon to the largest extent. The occupation 
of the gold mines of Mount Pangaeus gave 
Designs ot ki m pj en ^y f money, and he founded a new 
town close to them called Philippi. He married 
Olympia, the daughter of the king of Epirus, of the race of 
Achilles, and held a brilliant court at his new capital Pella. 
Olympia was given up to the secret mysteries of Orpheus 
and Dionysus, and practised the magic cult of the Thracian 
women, and she could be seen with the thyrsus on her head 
ranging nightly through the mountains in wild orgies. In 
the autumn of 356 she bore to her husband the mighty 
Alexander, one of the greatest men known to history. It is 
said that on the very day on which Philip received the 
news of the birth of a son and heir, he was also told that 
his general Parmenio had conquered the Illyrians, and that 
his horse had won the prize in Olympia. He began to aim 
at the supremacy over the Grecian world. 

In the abasement of Athens, the Thebans now raised their 
heads, and aimed at the reduction of the Phocians, the old 
Thebans allies of Sparta. They also roused into new 
and life the Amphictyonic League, which had existed 

Phocians. long before. The Phocians, a mountain race, 
devoted to their independence, were summoned before the 
council of this league, on the ground that they had appropriated 
and cultivated a portion of the sacred territory belonging to 
Delphi, and they were condemned to pay a large fine and 
were subjected to a curse. The Phocians resisted, mainly 
under the influence of Philomelos, a wealthy and power- 
ful citizen, who advised in the assembly that they should 
not allow themselves to be deprived of their property and 
their freedom. He obtained the assistance of Sparta, whose 
king, Archidamus, advanced him fifteen talents, and, after 
a few engagements, the sanctuary of Delphi was occupied 
by a Phocian army. Philomelos erased the judgment of 
the Amphictyonic Council, but announced to the Greeks that 
the treasures of the temple should be undisturbed, and that 
the Phocians were only acting as the historic protectors 
of the Delphic shrine. To confirm his action, he held the 
Pythia by force upon the sacred stool, until she cried with 
prophetic emphasis that he might do what he pleased. 

These actions were the cause of the Sacred War, which 
lasted from 355 to 346. The Athenians and Lacedaemonians 



338 b.c] HISTORY OF GREECE 125 

supported Philomelos, but the Locrians and the Boeotians de- 
clared for the Delphians, and determined to support the Amphic- 
tyonic sentence. The Locrians were the first 
to move, but were defeated. Yet the Phocians ^. SaCred 
were now in evil case. They were attacked on 
three sides by the Thebans, Thessalians, and the Locrians, and 
were only feebly defended by Athens and Sparta. Philomelos 
and Onomarchos, his lieutenant, had to depend on mercenaries, 
who exacted a large sum for their services. The war which 
ensued was full of horror ; as the cause for which they 
fought was holy, no quarter was given on either side. At 
last, in 354, Philomelos was defeated in the battle of Neon, 
and, to escape a worse fate, threw himself down the rocks. 
But Onomarchus still continued the struggle. The treasures 
of the temple were no longer respected ; the copper and iron 
were forged into arms, the gold and silver were coined into 
money. Onomarchus carried on the struggle with vigour. 
He conquered the Locrians, laid waste the little state of 
Doris, seized the pass of Thermopylae, and projected an in- 
vasion of Boeotia. As he returned, he suffered a check at 
Chaeronea, but this did not prevent him from assisting 
Lycophron of Pherae, the successor of Jason and Alexander, 
to become master of Thessaly. The Thessalians applied for 
help to Philip, who was only too glad to accede 
to their invitation. He had previously occupied in +™y eneg 
Methone, the last possession of the Athenians 
on the Thermaic Gulf. But he found Lycophron more formid- 
able than he had expected, and had to retire to Macedonia 
for reinforcements. The lord of Pherae was desirous of 
becoming master of the whole of Greece. The treasures of 
Delphi enabled him to maintain an army of 20,000 hoplites 
and 500 cavalry. Chares, the Athenian, received from him 
a sum of sixty talents to provide a fleet, but he preferred 
to spend it in entertaining his fellow-citizens in the market- 
place. 

The activity of the Phocians stirred their enemies to new 
efforts. The Thessalians applied again to Philip, and sent 
him such assistance that he was in command 
of an army of 20,000 foot and 3000 horse. A JJJJjJ 1 
battle took place on the coast, when the Mace- 
donians and Thessalians, covered with laurels to show that 
they were fighting in the service of the god, killed 6000 of 
their enemies and took 3000 prisoners, Onomarchus fell, 



126 A GENERAL HISTORY [387b.c to 

and Philip emphasised the holiness of the war by crucifying 
his corpse and drowning all the prisoners in the sea. Philip 
then marched upon Pherae, took the town of Pagasae, and, 
after declaring himself lord and master of Thessaly, occupied 
the pass of Thermopylae. 

Demosthenes now succeeded in rousing his countrymen to 
a sense of their ancient glories and present responsibilities. 
Efforts of Nausikles occupied the southern end of the Holy 
Athens— Gate, with a force of 5000 foot and 400 horse, 
Demo- which was strengthened by the arrival of 1000 

sthenes. Spartans and 2000 Achaeans. They even went 

so far as to ask the excommunicated Phocis to help them 
against the common enemy, and Phayllos, the brother of 
Onomarchus, joined them with a strong contingent. The 
gold and silver offerings of Croesus to the shrine of Delphi 
were used in the last extremity to hire mercenaries at an 
exorbitant price, and Philip was compelled to retire, retain- 
ing, however, possession of Thessaly, which he organised under 
an oligarchical government. The Euboeans now deserted 
Athens and joined Philip, but they were defeated by Phocion 
in the battle of Tamynae in the year 350. To this period 
belong the Philippic speeches of Demosthenes, which have 
added a new word to the languages of Europe, but produced 
little effect upon the sluggish audiences to which they were 
addressed. 

Philip now cast covetous eyes upon Olynthus, which in 
349 B.C. applied to Athens for assistance, a request supported 
by the powerful speeches of Demosthenes. Athens 
estruc ion eventually sent seventeen triremes, and 2000 
armed citizens under Chares, but they arrived 
too late. Philip used to the full the crafty advice of the 
Delphic priestess : " Use the silver lance in fight : nothing 
can withstand its might." By bribing the commander of the 
Olynthian cavalry, Philip obtained possession of the town, 
which he plundered and destroyed, selling into slavery those 
of the inhabitants whom he did not put to death. The rich 
and flourishing Chalcidice was entirely ruined. The Athenians, 
weary of the war, now took the step of sending an embassy to 
Philip, of which Demosthenes and his rival Aeschines formed 
a part. They were received with the most splendid hospitality, 
and on their return the ambassadors could not praise Philip 
enough, his stately presence, his charming manners, his clever 
conversation, and his boisterous fun at the banquets. This was 



338 B.C.] HISTORY OF GREECE 127 

followed by the despatch of Parnienio and Antipater to Athens, 

where they were received with equal honour, and after two 

days completed a peace known as the " Peace of 

Philocrates" on the basis of " uti possidetis," D f , ce ° , 
1 , • p i-ii • -j i * rhuocrates. 

that is, or each side keeping its conquests. A 

defensive alliance was also concluded between Philip and 

Athens and their allies. 

While these negotiations were proceeding, Philip was in 
Thrace engaged in subduing the Thracian prince Kersobleptes, 
who was an ally of the Athenians, and the towns Athens 
on the coast which were garrisoned by Athens overreached 
before her hands were tied by the conclusion of b Y Philip, 
the peace. It was therefore desirable to get the peace ratified 
as soon as possible. Demosthenes advised that the ambassadors 
should go to the king by the short road of Euboea ; but in fact 
they travelled by Thessaly to Pella, where they awaited the 
king's return, and this did not take place until all his objects 
had been accomplished. He further contrived to get possession 
of Thermopylae, and, when this was done, solemnly ratified the 
treaty. He sent the ambassadors back with a nattering letter 
to Athens, and won the hearts of the Athenians by releasing 
the Athenian prisoners in his hands without ransom, in order 
that they might be able to be present at the Panathenaic 
festival. 

Philip now proceeded to the punishment of the Phocians, 
who were summoned for that purpose before the Amphictyonic 
Council. They were expelled from the Amphic- 
tyonic confederation as accursed, and the two Fate of the 
votes which they had possessed were given to 
Philip and his successors. All their towns, excepting Abae, 
twenty-two in number, were destroyed, and the inhabitants 
transferred to villages which might not contain more than 
fifty houses. Those who had fled from their country were 
declared outlaws, and might be killed at pleasure ; those who 
remained were -condemned to pay a yearly tribute of fifty 
talents to the shrine of Apollo, and were deprived of their arms 
and horses until that treasure was repaid. Philip was made 
protector of the Oracle. This terrible sentence was carried 
out with the utmost severity ; indeed, the whole country became 
a desert. When Demosthenes visited it a few years later, he 
found ruined houses and walls, no men of fighting capacity, a 
few women and children, every one in mourning, and a scene 
of indescribable misery. The Athenians were shocked beyond 



128 A GENERAL HISTORY [387 e.g. to 

measure at this news. Trusting to Philip's promises, they had 
delivered the Phocians bound hand and foot to their destroyers. 
They felt no sympathy with the magnificent festival with which 
Philip celebrated in Delphi his new position. They expected to 
see in Attica the king of Macedon ; they received the Phocian 
fugitives, regardless of the curse which they incurred by doing 
so. They brought all their women and children from the 
country into the Acropolis, and concealed their treasures as 
they had done at the time of the Peloponnesian war. At the 
same time they did not dare to attack their main enemy, and 
Aeschines was able to say that the shouters were many, but 
the strikers few. A new embassy, with Aeschines at the head, 
assured Philip of the respect of the Athenians for the Amphic- 
tyonic sentence, and pledged them to enter the Amphictyonic 
League. Philip now celebrated the Pythian games with unusual 
splendour, and retired to Macedon, leaving a garrison in Phocis. 

The years which followed the peace of Philocrates were used 
by Philip to strengthen his position in Thessaly, to make an 
alliance in the Peloponnesus with the Argives and Messenians, 
and dexterously to undermine the liberties of Greece ; but when 
he besieged the towns of Perinthus and Byzantium, in order to 
close to the Athenians the entrance to the Black Sea, their eyes 
were opened. Influenced by the third Philippic of Demosthenes, 
they sent assistance to Byzantium under Phocion, which com- 
pelled Philip to raise the siege. In order to divert the attention 
of the Greeks, Philip now devoted himself to other enterprises, 
fighting against the Thracians, who lived on the borders of his 
kingdom as far as the Danube and the Black Sea, and en- 
deavouring to advance his frontiers as far as the Adriatic and 
the Illyrian coast. But the Greeks soon gave him an oppor- 
tunity of mixing himself up in their affairs and marching with 
an armed force into the heart of Greece. 

In 339 the Locrians were accused of committing a similar 

offence to that of the Phocians by cultivating some land which 

had belonged to the Delphian Apollo. When 

s dWar they WCR dd n °t P av the fine imposed upon them 
by the Amphicytons, Aeschines, who was then in 
the Macedonian service, proposed that the punishment of the 
Locrians should be committed to King Philip. Philip readily 
undertook the responsibility of this second Sacred War, which 
he thought would bring him nearer to his main object, the 
subjection of Greece. He advanced hastily through Thermo- 
pylae, conquered Amphissa, and occupied Elateia, which gave him 



338 e.g.] HISTORY OF GREECE 129 

access to Boeotia and Attica. The Athenians had been at last 
convinced how shamefully they had been betrayed by Philip, 
and by the advice of Demosthenes made an alliance with Thebes. 
But in 338 took place the fatal battle of Chaeronea, 
which put an end to the freedom of Greece. The chaeronea 
terms imposed upon Athens were not hard in 
themselves, but she had to recognise the supremacy of Mace- 
donia. Thebes was treated much more harshly ; she was com- 
pelled to renounce the Boeotian League and to admit aMacedonian 
garrison into the Cadmeia. Philip even succeeded in extending 
his power over the Peleponnesus, and wasted and plundered 
Sparta, who resisted him, and diminished her territory. He 
then summoned the whole of the Grecian states to a congress 
at the Isthmus of Corinth, where a common attack on the 
Persians was determined upon, in which Philip was to be the 
leader. But just as he was making his prepara- 
tions, and was also preparing to celebrate the p^iir, 
marriage of his daughter, he was murdered by 
one of his bodyguards at his palace at Aegae, as an act of 
private vengeance. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EAELY HISTORY OF ROME, 753— c. 350 B.C. 

Having given an account of the Greeks up to the time when 
they began to take an important part in the politics of the 

world, it will be well to turn our attention to that 
The Italian other nation which, commencing with a humble 

origin, ended eventually by drawing the whole of 
the known world into itself. The peninsula of Italy falls naturally 
into two parts — a long and broad plain in the north, between 
the Alps and Apennines, and a mountain district in the south 
stretching far down towards Africa, terminated by Sicily, which 
is scarcely separated from the mainland. At the beginning of 
history we find the plain, with the exception of the Veneti on 
the Adriatic and the Ligurians in Piedmont, and the coast of 
Genoa, occupied by Celts who adopted the Roman speech and 
dress, and were properly called " Gauls with the toga." They 
were divided into several tribes : the Insubrians, who founded 
Milan ; the Cenomani, who founded Brescia and Verona ; the 
Boii, who founded Bologna ; and the Senones, who spread from 
Rimini as far as Ancona. It seems that the Gauls learnt the 
first elements of their higher civilisation from the Etruscans. 
The long chain of the Apennines, which forms the backbone of 
the lower portion of Italy, reaches its greatest height in the 
high land of the Abruzzi, the ancient home of the Samnites, 
and then divides into two branches, one forming the mountainous 
country of Calabria, the other reaching close to the point where 
Italy is separated by a narrow strait from Sicily. 

There is little doubt that the inhabitants of Greece and Italy 
came from the north-east, and were originally closely connected. 
We find the Italians consisting of many tribes with different 

appellations ; but the main divisions, which will 

™ e alone concern us, are those of the Etruscans, 

Sabines, and Latins. Of the Etruscans we know 

little or nothing, although we possess countless specimens of 

their art and language, and know that they exercised a powerful 

130 



753-c 350 b.c.] EARLY HISTORY OF ROME 131 

influence over the development of Rome. It is strange that, 
notwithstanding the labour spent upon the investigation of 
them, they should still remain a mystery to us. They extended 
apparently from the mouth of the Po to the northern banks of the 
Tiber ; they formed a league of twelve independent cities, from 
Cortona and Arezzo in the north to Yeii in the south. They 
were in the beginning, like the Romans, governed by kings ; but 
they got rid of them before the fourth century before Christ, 
and entrusted themselves to the guidance of noble families for 
the transaction of their temporal and spiritual affairs. In 
earlier periods their harbours were visited by Phoenician, Car- 
thaginian, and Greek ships, and they had a free port at Agylla 
at the mouth of the Tiber. This is not the place to discuss the 
questions with regard to them upon which scholars are so much 
divided. The Sabines, who were settled in Central 

Italy, include the tribes of the Samnites, the „ ®. 
~ ,. . 11 -»„ . 1 11 1 Sabines. 

Pehgni, and the Marsi, who are all known as 

Sabellians. Their original home was in the high mountainous 
country which is now the Abruzzi. They were a strong hardy 
people, living in villages in a patriarchal manner, and were 
good fighters. They practised a patriarchal system of govern- 
ment. We find in the writings of the Augustan age constant 
allusions to the virtues and simplicity which had been corrupted 
by the luxury of a later time. The race which lived south of 
the Tiber in the hills of Algidus and the banks of the Liris 
were known as Oscans, worshipping apparently Diana as their 
principal goddess. Their chief divisions, whose names frequently 
occur in Roman history, were the Yolscians in Terracina and 
Antium, the Rutulians in Ardea, the Ausonians between the 
Liris and the Yolturnus, the Aequi at Tivoli and Palestrina, the 
Hernicans at Anagni and Ferentino. The languages spoken by 
these tribes were very similar, and are known by the common 
name of Oscan ; their writing resembled the Etruscan, and ran 
from right to left. The Latins occupied the broad 
plain to the south of the Tiber. They seem to ms ' 

have been organised originally in a league of thirty cities, the 
head of which was Alba Longa on the shores of the Alban Lake. 
They appear to have had a king and a senate, and the habit of 
assembling the whole of their warriors in arms. They met 
every year in the wood of Ferentinum, at the holy spring, and 
sacrificed to their common deity, Jupiter Latiaris, whose temple 
stood in the Alban Mount, now called Monte Cavo. 

Tradition, which was believed to be true in the Augustan age, 



132 A GENERAL HISTORY [753 b.c. to 

said that Rome was governed originally by kings, the first four 
of whom reigned from 753 to 617 B.C., and bore the names of 
The early Romulus, Numa, Tullus Hostilius, and Ancus 
Roman Martius. It is impossible to say how much truth 

Legends. and how much falsehood lies in this account, but it 

is certain that the narrative usually given is not historically 
correct. The story is that Numitor of Alba Longa, a descend- 
ant of Aeneas and lulus, was deprived of his throne by his 
brother Amulius, and his daughter, Rea Silvia, was dedicated to 
the service of Yesta, in order that she might have no more 
children. However, by the fatherhood of Mars, she became 

the mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, 
^ir whom her uncle Amulius ordered her to throw 

into the Tiber. They were placed in a box, which 
the stream cast on the shore at the foot of the Palatine, where 
they were suckled by a wolf until Faustulus, the king's hunts- 
man, found them, and had them brought up by his wife, Acca 
Laurentia. At last, hearing of their royal origin, they restored 
Nurnitor to the throne of Alba Longa, and determined to found 
a city on the seven hills upon which Rome is now built. 
Romulus wished to found the city on the Palatine, Remus, on 
the Aventine ; but omens decided in favour of the first-named, 
and the city was built there and called Rome. Romulus sur- 
rounded it with a wall, which Remus leapt over in scorn, upon 
which Romulus stabbed him, and said, " So may every one 
perish who dared to cross over these walls ! " The population 
of Rome consisted entirely of men, and they were anxious to 
have wives, so they invited the neighbouring Sabines, with 
their wives and daughters, to a feast, and ran off with the 
women. The Sabine king, Titus Tatius, who reigned at Cures, 
made war upon them, and Tarpeia, corrupted by the desire for 
the gold ornaments which the Sabines wore, opened the gate of 
the capitol to them, but was treacherously killed. Romulus at 
last conquered, and reigned till his death in 716. 

After a short interregnum, Romulus was succeeded by Numa 
Pompilius, whose name is obviously connected with Nomos, law, 

as Romulus is with Roma, Rome. He was of 
Numa Sabine origin and avoided war, so that during his 

reign of forty-three years the temple of Janus, 
whose door stood open in time of war, was closed. He estab- 
lished the religion of Rome on a firm basis, and was a great 
lawyer. He was assisted in these arrangements by the nymph 
Egeria, who met him by night in a sacred grove. When he 



c 350 b.c] EARLY HISTORY OF ROME 133 

died in peace, he was mourned like a father. After a short 
interregnum, Numa was succeeded by Tullus Hostilius, a Latin 
of warlike disposition. In his time a war took 
place between Rome and Alba Longa, which is 4- rf" 
marked by the story of the fight between the three 
Horatii and the three Ouratii, who contended with each other 
to avoid the slaughter of a general battle. The Romans won, 
but the king of Alba Longa, Mettius Fufetius, anxious to 
avenge the disgrace, took advantage of a struggle between 
Rome and the neighbouring cities of Fidenae and Veii to attack 
the Romans, when he thought they were going to be defeated. 
The Romans were again victorious, and they punished the 
traitor by having him torn asunder by horses, and ordered the 
population of Alba to remoye to Rome. From this time Rome 
became the head of the Latin League. Tullius is said to have 
been killed by lightning after a reign of thirty-two years. 
Ancus Martius, the last of the four kings, was re- 
garded as the grandson of Numa, and followed m^ 
in his footsteps. He included the Aventine in 
the city, and founded Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber. He 
made a bridge over the Tiber, and fortified the Janiculum 
as a bridge-head. 

The next king was Tarquinius Priscus, who is said to have 
been a distinguished lucumo or prince of Tarquinii in Etruria. 
He came to Rome with his wife Tanaquil. who 
was skilled in magic arts. He was the son of Tarquinius 
Demaratus of Corinth, who, fleeing from the 
tyranny of Cypselus, came to Tarquinii, and married an Etrurian 
wife. Finding his foreign origin a hindrance to his advance- 
ment, he removed to Rome, and, becoming a great friend of 
Ancus Martius, was chosen to succeed him. He was an able 
and energetic king ; he made war with the Latins and the 
Sabines, and eventually with his own people, the Etruscans, 
whom he compelled to accept the Roman sovereignty. He was 
a great builder, and constructed the Cloaca Maxima to drain the 
marshy ground in the market-place, where he made a Forum, 
and a Comitium or meeting place for the people. He also 
constructed a circus between the Palatine and the Aventine, 
where games were held every year on the Ides of September. 
When he was hoping to erect a great temple on the Capitol to 
Jupiter Capitolinus, he was murdered by the two sons of Ancus 
Martius, having reigned from 617 to 579 B.C. He was succeeded 
by Servius Tullius (579 to 535), who has more claim than the 



i34 A GENERAL HISTORY [753 b.c. to 

other kings we have mentioned to be considered as an historical 
personage. He was said to be the son of a slave. He 

entirely transformed the government and the 
Tum'us position of Rome. To the original hills on which 

Rome was said to have been built — the Palatine, 
the Capitoline, Quirinal, Caelian, and Aventine — he added the 
Esquiline and the Viminal, thus making up the legendary 
seven hills of Rome. He surrounded the city with a wall, 
portions of which still exist, and gave Rome a new con- 
stitution of a more democratic character, dividing the people 
into classes and centuries. It is said that he was murdered 
by the son of Tarquin. 

He was succeeded by Tarquinius Superbus (535 to 510), 
Tarquin the Proud, a violent and tyrannical nature, who 

abandoned the statesmanlike management of his 
arquimus p ref j ecessor- jj e extended the frontiers of Rome, 

by the conquest of Latium and the reduction of 
Gabii. He subdued the Hernici and some cities of the Volsci, 
and founded the colonies of Signia and Luceria, to confirm his 
conquests. He gave its final form to the Cloaca Maxima, and 
built the Capitoline Temple. He also acquired the Sibylline 
Books, which contained oracles about the future of Rome, and 
placed them in a subterraneous sanctuary. At last, when the 
tyranny of himself and his sons became insupportable, he was 
driven from the throne by the instrumentality of Brutus, and 
settled in Coere. The royal dignity was abolished — the name, 
indeed, of king became in Rome an object partly of detesta- 
tion and partly of derision — and a republican government, with 
two consuls at its head, was established in its place. In 529 
B.C., the Roman republic, the most famous government which 
has ever existed in the world, began its triumphal career. 

Instead of discussing at length what amount of truth there 
is in these legends, it will be better to state at once what is the 
Early final conclusion of competent scholars with re- 

Roman gard to the early condition of Rome. It is 
History. probable that in early times three tribes occupied 
the territory of the city of Rome, each living in a separate and 
independent community. It is said that they bore the names 
of Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres. The Ramnes were of Latin 
origin, and were probably the first comers, having perhaps 
seceded from Alba Longa. The name looks as if it were 
associated with the names of Roma, Romulus, and Remus. They 
were established in a fortified position on the Palatine Hill, 



c 350 b.c] EARLY HISTORY OF ROME 135 

surrounded by walls in the form of a square, and called Roma 
Quadrata, traces of which still remain. The ground on which 
Rome was built was called the Septimontium, consisting of 
seven hills or rnontes, although it possibly meant a district as 
well as a hill. The names of these seven montes 
were Palatium, Velia, Fagutal, Subura, Germalus, H .,1 even 
Oppius, and Gispius. The seven hills of modern 
poetry, as defined in the Middle Ages, were Palatine, Capitol, 
Aventine, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, and Caelian, although 
several of these bore the name of Collis and not of Mons. The 
Tities were of Sabine origin, and were settled in the Collis 
Quirinalis, the Luceres were probably the last comers, and were 
established on the Mons Caelius. Livy says that their origin 
was uncertain, and there are two modern theories about them, 
one that they were of Etruscan origin, the other that they are 
Latins who came to Rome under Tullius Hostilius after the 
destruction of Alba Longa. There was always a jealousy 
between the Montani and the Oollini, the Mount men and the 
Hill men, but eventually the three communities came together 
to form a single state, with the Capitoline as the seat of the 
common sanctuary, under the name of Civitas Roma. 

At a later period, Servius Tullius surrounded the community 
over which he ruled with a wall, which included, besides the 
old Septimontium, the Quirinal, Viminal, Caelian, Wall of 
Aventine, and Capitoline, and many fragments of Servius 
which now exist. The space thus included is Tullius. 
the most famous in history, as it held the Forum, which lies 
between the Palatine and the Capitol, the Comitium, the 
Arx or citadel overlooking the forum, on the site now occu- 
pied by the church of Ara Coeli, and the temple of Jupiter 
Capitolinus at the other end. A new wall necessitated a new 
pomoerium — that is the space immediately outside the walls, 
which separated the consecrated city, the urbs or templum, 
from the territory of Rome, the Ager Romanus. It was a rule 
that no army should come within the walls of Rome ; if the 
people had to assemble in arms, they met in the Campus 
Martius, the flat ground lying between the Tiber and the 
Capitol, on which a large portion of modern Rome is now built. 
The official name of the Roman citizens was quirites, which has 
received many explanations, but is probably con- 
nected with a Sabine word, curis or quiris, signi- Q uirites - 
fying a lance or a spear — quirites, therefore, meaning the 
men of the spear. In later times it signified citizens instead of 



136 A GENERAL HISTORY [753 b.c. to 

soldiers, Caesar once quelling a mutiny by addressing his 
soldiers as quirites. The quirites were again divided into two 
classes, patricii, citizens with full rights, and citizens with 
Patricians inferior rights called clientes and plebs. The 
and patricii comprised those who were by birth 

Plebeians. members of the three original tribes. The word 
signifies those who have fathers, that is, those who derive their 
descent from fathers in distinction from those who, like the plebs, 
derived their descent from mothers. The clientes were persons 
residing at Rome who had to be represented in all matters 
which had to do with the duties of citizenship by a patronus, 
who must be a patrician. The plebs differed from the clientes 
in the fact that a plebeian had no patronus. It is not pre- 
cisely known how they came into existence. The clientes 
gradually disappeared, and the plebs became more and more 
important. 

Each of the fundamental divisions of Ramnes, Tities, and 
Luceres was divided into ten curiae. There were, therefore, 
thirty curiae in the state. The curiae were com- 
Gentes an posed of a number of gentes, which were originally 
local, but afterwards ceased to be so. The gens 
was a most important institution, and exercised a great influence 
over Roman life. If there were no other heirs, the members of 
the gens succeeded to the estate, and each gens was under the pro- 
tection of an especial divinity ; indeed, the fact that they attended 
the family sacrifices was a sign that men belonged to a gens. 
The members of the gens were buried in a common cemetery. 

A number of changes which took place in the times of the 
kings bear the name of Servius Tullius. The city was divided 
into four regions, and each of the four tribes corresponding to 
these comprised all citizens of full age who lived in one region. 
The tribe became the administrative unit for taxation and 
Taxation military service. Servius also made the taxation 
and Military and the military service imposed upon the citizen 
Service. depend upon his taxable property, which was 

assessed every five years. Military service was made compul- 
sory upon all citizens, excepting the very poorest. They were 
divided according to their wealth into five classes, each of which 
furnished to the army a fixed number of centuries or companies. 
They had to arm themselves and to feed themselves in the field, 
and those who were too poor to do this were employed as 
military artisans or as musicians. 

The King was elected for life and was irresponsible. He was 



c. 350 b.c] EARLY HISTORY OF ROME i37 

chosen by the Comitia, accepted by the Senate, consecrated by an 
augur, and he received the supreme authority of the imperium by 
the vote of the people. The imperium remained 
throughout Roman history the reservoir from 
which all authority flowed : it comprised all military and judicial 
power, including the power of life and death. The king was 
treated with great honour, but he was a constitutional and not 
an absolute monarch, as his power was limited by the well defined 
authority of the paterfamilias, the gens, and the senate, by 
the power of the people exercised in the comitium, and above 
all by the conventions of government as expressed by what 
was called the Mos Majorum, or traditional custom. The 
principal officers of the king were the Tribunus Celerum, who 
commanded the cavalry, and the Praefectus Urbi, who governed 
Rome in the king's absence. The Senate was at 
this time nominated by the king from among the 
heads of the patrician families. It consisted at first of a hundred 
members, but was afterwards raised to three hundred. It acted 
as a royal council, especially in matters where tradition was 
concerned, and it had the right of ratifying or annulling the 
votes of the people. The Senate was never, strictly speaking, a 
legislative body ; it merely gave advice expressed in decrees ; but 
these decrees often had the force of law. The only representa- 
tive assembly was the Comitia Ouriata, in which all 
citizens voted — patricians, clients, and plebeians, curiata 
Their votes were always given by curies, each 
curia consisting of a number of gentes. They decided on 
peace and war, and conferred citizenship. They voted separately 
in an order determined by lot, and so when sixteen curies had 
voted there was no reason to call upon the rest. This assembly 
existed after the abolition of royalty, but it had then no political 
power. 

Under the republic, the social unit of the state was the 
Family, at the head of which stood the paterfamilias, the father 
of the family. He had almost unlimited authority ; 
he was the head of the family religion, and the 
sole owner of the family property, including slaves. He had 
over the members of his family the power of life and death. 
These powers were afterwards modified by law and custom. 
One of the first acts of the new republic was to pass a law by 
which no citizen could be killed or scourged by a magistrate 
without having the power of appealing to the people. This was 
the Habeas Corpus Act of Rome. 



138 A GENERAL HISTORY [753 b.c. to 

By the organisation ascribed to Sevvius Tullius, the citizens 

were divided into five classes according to their wealth. These 

Classes classes were further divided into 188 centuries for 

and military and political purposes. Of these centuries 

Centuries, the first eighteen consisted of those persons who 

had the money and the permission to provide themselves with a 

horse and to serve on horseback, called in Latin Equites, which 

. is generally translated by the name of Knights. 

q * The first class was further divided into eighty 

centuries, the second, third, and fourth classes into twenty each, 

and the fifth class into thirty. There was also a division between 

elder and younger, the line being drawn on the age of forty-seven. 

Other citizens who did not belong to a class were not altogether 

excluded from the centuries or from the right of voting. There 

were the four centuries of the workers in wood, the workers in 

brass, the military bands, and the unarmed substitutes. The 

citizens who did not belong to a class, or to one of the four last 

mentioned centuries, were collected into a single century and 

«.,".. called proletarii, a name which seems to imply 
Proletarii . 

that their only function was that of adding to the 

population of the country, and which is the origin of the word 
proletariate with which we are familiar. They were also called 
Capite censi, or counted by heads. They took no part in military 
service, but they had a vote, and thus the whole number of the 
centuries was 193. It is obvious that, if the equites and the 
first class voted together, the number of 98 centuries would form 
more than a majority of the whole, so that they could carry 
anything they pleased. Also the centuries of the younger and 
the older had equal votes ; whereas, according to modern statis- 
tics, the younger would have been twice as numerous. Thus we 
see that the Servian constitution, although it gave every one a 
vote, also gave great preponderance to wealth and age. 

We can see this by the effect of the more democratic measures 
carried about 241 B.C., when the number of the local tribes 
Constitu- was raised to thirty-five, and the value of the 
tional copper as was reduced. The local tribe now became 

changes. the basis of the division into centuries, five senior 
and five junior. The eighteen centuries of the horsemen re- 
mained, but each of the other classes had seventy centuries, the 
five subordinate centuries remaining as before. This made a 
complete number of 373 centuries, of which the absolute majority 
was 187. Under this new arrangement, the equites and the 
first class together had only 88 votes out of 373, instead of 88 



c 350B.C] EARLY HISTORY OF ROME 139 

out of 198, so that the privilege of wealth was greatly reduced, 
but that of age preserved. 

The constitutional history of Rome is to a great extent the 
story of a struggle of the plebeians with the patricians, first for 
an equal, then for a predominant share in the government of 
the state. When the republic first came into existence, all 
magistracies belonged exclusively to the patricians, but when 
the plebs seceded to the Aventine in 494 B.C., * 
and demanded a share in the administration, two ijff^ifihg ° 
magistracies were created which were exclusively 
plebeian. These were the Tribuneship, which afterwards became 
the most important office in the state, and the Plebeian Aedile- 
ship, which gave the plebeians a share in the government of the 
city. At this time the most powerful office in Rome was the 
Consulate, and for this the plebeians naturally desired to be 
eligible, and fifty years after the secession a compromise was 
effected by which they could be elected to an office called a 
Military Tribunate with consular power. It was not till 367 
that a law was passed, in the consulate of Licinius, 
that not only might plebeians be admitted to the . e ^ C1 „ 
Consulship, but one of the consuls must always 
be a plebeian, so that there might be two plebeian consuls, but 
there could only be one patrician. In the year 421, plebeians 
were admitted to. the Quaestorship, but no plebeian quaestor 
was elected till the year 409. After the passing of the Licinian 
Law, the opposition of the patricians rapidly disappeared, and 
plebeians were made eligible to the Curule Aedileship in 364, 
to the Dictatorship in 356, to the Censorship in 351, and in 339 
a law provided that one of the Censors must be a plebeian. 
But the conservatism of Rome was such that two plebeian censors 
were not elected until more than two hundred years after it had 
become legally possible. The last conquest of the plebeians was 
admission to the Praetorship — indeed, we find that the privilege 
most jealously guarded by all classes is that of being judged by 
the order to which they belong, and no plebeian might be 
Praetor till the year 337. We thus see that, at the beginning 
of the republic, the patricians formed an aristocracy of birth, 
which had the exclusive possession of complete civic rights. 
Clients and plebeians could not intermarry with patricians, 
they could not be admitted to the Senate, they could not be 
magistrates or priests. It required a bitter struggle of more 
than two hundred years to place these two orders in a position 
of political equality. The horsemen, who formed a lower aristo- 



140 A GENERAL HISTORY L753 b.c. to 

cracy of wealth, holding a position something like that of 
baronets with reference to peers, were altered by the title being 
given to wealthy men of no particular extraction, especially to the 
publicans, the wealthy farmers of the public revenue. Rome 
also contained a large number of foreigners and slaves, who 
were, of course, not citizens. The slaves were very numerous — 
at a later period more than double the number of citizens. 
They were under the absolute power of their masters. 

We will now give an account of the origin and importance of 
the various Roman magistrates whom we have already men- 
tioned. These were, in the chronological order of 
e agis- their institution, consuls, quaestors, tribunes and 
aediles of the plebs, censors, praetors, and curule 
aediles. There were also magistrates only occasionally appointed, 
such as the dictator and the master of the horse. Magistrates 
were invested with certain powers and attributes, the more 
important of which were majestas and imperium. Majestas, 
which is imperfectly translated by Majesty, first belonged to 
the kings, then passed to the people, and was conferred by 
the people upon its magistrates. Any one who did not respect 
their majesty was guilty of a crime and must be punished. 
The crime of laesa majestas, or Use majeste, as it was called 
in the Middle Ages, took a large extension in the Roman 
empire, and is now of importance in Germany. In the presence 
of a magistrate the people rose from their seats, uncovered 
their heads, got out of his way in the streets, and, if they were 
on horseback, dismounted from their horses. Similar respect 
was shown by magistrates of lower rank to those of higher 
rank than themselves. The word imperium, which we have 
already mentioned, requires careful consideration. 
Imioer'um ^ n ^ e fi rs ^ place it implies high military command. 
Magistrates invested with this power commanded 
in chief the armies entrusted to them by the Senate, conducted 
war, disposed of budgets, concluded truces with the enemy, and 
could coin money in their own name outside Rome. It also 
gave certain judicial powers — at one time indeed, the power of 
life and death, which was afterwards confined to the dictator. 
The imperium also gave the right of summoning or arresting 
a fellow-citizen, but his home always remained inviolable. The 
different magistrates possessed different degrees of imperium, 
the dictator having the highest, the consul less, and the praetor 
still less. The extent of their imperium was shown by the 
number of lictors who went before them, carrying axes tied up in 



c. 350 b.c] EARLY HISTORY OF ROME 141 

bundle of rods. The dictator had twenty-four, the consul twelve, 
and the praetor six. The competence of a magistrate was known 
as his potestas ; indeed, at a later period, the word potestas meant 
a magistrate in Latin, and the title passed to the podesta, the 
supreme judicial officer in the cities of medieval Italy. 

The first magistrates in Rome were, of course, the Consuls, 
the word probably meaning colleagues. There were two of 
them, possessing equal power. One of the most 
remarkable characteristics of the Roman govern- „ e . 
ment was the existence of a number of colleges 
of magistrates, all of whom had equal power and were in- 
dependent of each other. This would certainly have produced 
frequent deadlocks if it had not been for the strong political 
sense of the Roman people ; indeed it sometimes did, as when 
Bibulus said that he intended to observe the heavens during 
the whole period of his colleague Caesar's consulship ; but, 
as a rule, it worked extremely well. When first created, the 
consuls were invested with the whole of the royal authority, 
excepting that which pertained to the kings as priests, which 
was mainly given to the Pontifex Maximus. They had the 
imperiwm regium and the potestas regia, the only difference 
being that the imperium belonged equally to both the consuls 
and that it only lasted for a year. But by the creation 
of other offices, and by the growing power of the Senate and 
the plebeian assemblies, it was gradually circumscribed, though 
it always remained very considerable. At times they were 
the administrative heads of the state, presiding over the 
Comitia and the Senate. They watched over the public security, 
and were the natural representatives of the people ; they con- 
trolled the enrolment of the army, and nominated the princi- 
pal officers. When out of Rome and beyond the pomoerium, 
each consul had the right to command a consular army, con- 
sisting of two legions, and of as many allies, which command 
was assigned to him by the Senate. As a rule, the two 
consuls remained at Rome for the first months after their 
election, and then went simultaneously to their provinces. 

When the plebeians were admitted to the Consulship in 367, 
the patricians asked for and obtained a compensation for the 
sacrifice which they were making ; therefore the 
power of civil jurisdiction was taken away from p r£ f e to s 
the consuls and given to a new patrician magistrate 
called a Praetor, the patricians naturally objecting to being 
tried by any one but their peers. However, thirty years later, 



142 A GENERAL HISTORY [753 b.c. to 

the plebeians were admitted to the praetorship. From 242 B.C., 
in consequence of the influx of foreigners to Rome, two 
Praetors were elected annually, one being called the Praetor 
Urbanus, and the other the Praetor Peregrinus. This number 
was eventually increased to eight. The praetor, who was 
regarded as the colleague of the consuls, could act as their 
deputy, during their absence from Rome, but his special 
function was to try civil suits between citizens. The ancient 
civil law of Rome, partly codified in the XII. Tables, was 
seldom altered by direct legislation, so that it was left to 
the praetor to supply its deficiences, in the same way as the 
Common Law of England has been modified by the decisions 
of the Court of Chancery. The Praetor Peregrinus had the 
special duty of deciding suits in which foreigners were in- 
volved, and his decisions had therefore a greater extension 
and a greater novelty than those of his colleague the Praetor 
Urbanus. 

The Censors were established in the year 443 as a patrician 
magistracy, to undertake certain duties which had up to this 
, „ time been performed by the consuls. As a rule 

the censors were chosen from people of consular 
rank. They were elected, in principle, for five years, but 
some years after their creation it was decreed that the office 
should only last for a year and a half, leaving an interval 
between the abdication of each censor and the election of 
a successor, which we may imagine as a welcome relief to 
the Roman people. Their power gradually grew in import- 
ance. It at first only concerned the census of the population, 
but it eventually developed into a general right of superinten- 
dence over the morals of the citizens, a duty which became 
more important when they were entrusted with the formation 
of the Senate. The censors thus became the guardians of the 
material and moral basis, the mos ma jorum, the traditional 
morality on which the greatness of the Roman republic was 
founded. They were spoken of as the most holy magistrates, 
and they were distinguished by wearing a toga entirely of 
purple. The great census took place in the Campus Martius. 
Every father of a family had to appear before the censors 
and to declare, to the best of his belief, the names of himself 
and his family, his age, and his fortune. This information 
was written down on a roll, and the taxation was based upon 
it. After this a review was held in the town of all the equites 
possessing a horse provided at the public expense. Each horse- 



c. 350 b.c] EARLY HISTORY OF ROME 143 

man of all the eighteen centuries led his horse past the censors. 
If everything was satisfactory he was allowed to pass on, 
but if he was too old or too fat, or not respectable, he was 
ordered to sell his horse, and he ceased to be an eques. Careful 
lists were then prepared of all the citizens, which were kept 
in the archives of the censors, authentic copies being deposited 
in the librarium and in the Capitol. The censors in the capa- 
city of inquisitors, or of inquirers into the private life and 
moral conduct of the citizens, might condemn and punish 
cowardice, perjury, luxury, celibacy without due cause, criminal 
conduct, bad administration of property, lax education of 
children, cruelty towards slaves. As a punishment they might 
remove a man from the Senate, from the Equites, or from 
his tribe, or they might give him a bad mark, a nota censoria, 
as it was called, which was in the nature of a moral rebuke. 
The census was closed by a great act of national purification 
in the Campus Marthas, in the presence of the newly consti- 
tuted army. At this there was a solemn sacrifice of pigs, 
sheep, and bulls — a stiovetaurilia as it was called — and the whole 
ceremony bore the name of Lustratio, and the five years' 
taking of office of the censors was called a lustrum. By these 
ceremonies the censors were said condere lustrum — to close the 
lustrum. Can we wonder at the supremacy gained by a people 
which conducted its affairs with such carefulness and dignity ! 

The Tribunate of the Plebs, which now claims our attention, 
was one of the most remarkable magistracies which ever existed 
in any government. The Tribunes, whose crea- 
tion has already been mentioned, were originally i, :? 
two, but they gradually increased in number, 
and, after the year 457, less than forty years after their first 
establishment, they were always ten. Their primitive object 
was to assist the plebeians against a too forcible exercise of the 
consular authority, and they did this by intercession and by veto. 
Indeed, they introduced the latter word into political language. 
They had no actual competence in either administrative, judicial, 
or military affairs, but they had a certain right of coercion. 
Their persons were inviolable, and they were irresponsible for 
their actions. They had the right and the duty of protecting 
any plebeian who asked for their assistance, and for this pur- 
pose their doors were always open, and they could not absent 
themselves from Rome for more than a single day. Their 
assistance might be claimed by the patricians as well as by the 
plebeians. Their Veto was applicable to all official acts, as 



144 A GENERAL HISTORY [753 b.c. to 

well as to decisions of the consuls and of the Senate. They 
could even arrest magistrates and compel them to answer ques- 
tions in the forum. It was an opposition crystal- 
e e lised into an office, and unless the Romans had 

been gifted with a genius for compromise it would have made 
all government impossible. It is indeed difficult to see how 
the Roman government can have been carried on with the 
double difficulty of the colleges of officers and the Tribunate 
of the plebs. There is no record of a similar office having 
existed elsewhere, and it remains an enigma in political science. 
The Aediles were at first nominated by the tribunes, but after 
471 they were elected by the Concilia Plebis. Their duties were 
to look after the buildings of the city, the supply of corn, and 
the solemn games. The duty of the Quaestors was to guard the 
public treasury, and their number gradually increased from 
two to twenty. Every military commander and governor of a 
province was attended by a quaestor, who had charge of the 
commissariat and of the military chest. The office was generally 
held by young men, and was, indeed, the first to which a 
candidate for public life aspired. 

Having described the important parts of the Roman republic, 
it remains to narrate how the citizens conducted their affairs 

in the public meetings which are necessary parts 
M u }? of a free government. The meetings of citizens 

in Rome for public purposes bear three names — 
Concilium, Contio, and Comitia. A meeting of any kind which 
was not contio or comitia was called concilium ; a meeting duly 
summoned at which there was only discussion but no voting 
was called contio ; a meeting at which there was voting but no 
discussion was called comitia. Of the comitia, there were three 
kinds, the Curiata, the Centuriata, and the Tributa ; there were 
also the Concilia Plebis, which gradually assumed an increasingly 

great importance. The Curiata had been the 
Comitia mos t important meeting under the kings, but 

under the republic it gradually fell into desuetude, 
and was only held for the purpose of passing the lex de imperio. 
In this case it consisted of thirty lictors and three augurs. 

The Centuriata had now become the leading 
Comitia assembly, and it could only be summoned by 

some one who possessed the imperium. It re- 
presented the people in arms, just as in the national meetings, 
held once a year in some of the Swiss cantons, the citizens who 
come together have an umbrella in one hand and a rusty old 



c. 350 B.c.l EARLY HISTORY OF ROME 145 

sword in the other. It was held in the Campus Martius out- 
side the city walls, as no armed force might meet within the 
city. At the time of meeting a red flag was hoisted on the 
Janiculum on the other side of the Tiber, which was also 
occupied by a military post. The moment the flag was with- 
drawn the meeting stopped, a survival of the time when the 
right bank of the river was enemies' territory, and the with- 
drawal of the flag meant a possible invasion of the Etruscans. 
The Oomitia Tributa was a meeting of the whole T]ae c om iti a 
people assembled in tribes. The Concilia Plebis Tributa and 
were meetings of the plebs alone, summoned and Concilia 
presided over by their own magistrates. They P lebis - 
passed resolutions, called plebiscite or plebiscites, which were, 
in the first instance, binding on the plebs only. 

The Comitia could only meet on days which were legal for 
this purpose. The night before they met, the auspices had to 
be consulted. The assembly came together at daybreak, and 
the meeting could not be continued after sunset. In the 
Comitia Curiata and Tributa the curies and tribes 
voted simultaneously, but in the Centuriata a y e ^ ods of 
different method was adopted. Under the old 
arrangement, the centuries of the knights were called upon first 
and then the centuries of the first class, and if they agreed 
there was no need to call on any more, as they formed a 
majority by themselves. But after the reforms of 241, of which 
we have given an account, one century of the first class was 
chosen to vote first by lot, and this was called the centuria pre- 
rogativa, the prerogative century ; then followed the sixty -nine 
remaining centuries of the first class, the twelve centuries of 
the equites, and the centuries of the second class, and, as soon 
as a majority had been obtained, the voting ceased. As the 
majority required was 187, it was necessary to go clown as low 
as the third class. It is a remarkable fact that all the Comitia 
might be interrupted in a manner which would seem to make 
it impossible to carry on business at all. Indeed, ]y[ eans f 
as. has been before remarked, unless the Romans obstructing 
had been gifted with an unusual share of political Business, 
capacity, the government must have come to a stop. A magis- 
trate might not hold the meeting on the day named, or might 
break it off at any moment. It might be interrupted by a 
case of epilepsy, a diversion easily feigned by a little soap and 
water, or a sudden storm of thunder and lightning, or by an 
augur's declaring that the omens were unfavourable, or by a 



146 A GENERAL HISTORY [753 b.c. to 

magistrate's announcing that he intended to watch the sky, in 
which case nothing could he done until he had finished. Also 
if a magistrate said that he was going to hold a meeting, the 
first meeting must be broken up, as it was impossible to hold 
two meetings at the same time. A tribune of the plebs might 
also break up a meeting at any time. 

Just as the power of the Comitia Curiata passed to the 
assembly of the centuries, so that of the centuries passed to 
that of the tribunes, but the more important magistrates were 
elected at the Comitia Oenturiata, the lesser at the Tributa, 
while the plebeian magistrates were chosen at the Concilia 
Plebis. The Centuriata was by far the predominant power of 
the state till the passing of the Lex Hortensia in 286 B.C., after 
which its influence declined. 

The Roman Senate is the most important political body 
which has ever existed in the world, not excepting the British 
Parliament. The Senate had originally been 
e e ' instituted by the kings, but when they were 
expelled his duty passed to the consuls, or to the dictator 
when there was one. The Senate was at first exclusively 
patrician, and no plebeian senator is mentioned till P. 
Licinius Calvus, who was consular tribune in the year 400 and 
was the first plebeian who held a consular office. In the early 
part of the fourth century the choice of the Senators was 
transferred from the consuls to the censors. Thus the election 
became quinquennial instead of annual. The censors were 
bound by oath to choose the most worthy citizens to fill up the 
vacancies, for a senator was elected for life. They first took all 
persons who had been elected to offices, down to the Quaestor- 
ship, since the last election, and these were generally sufficient to 
fill up the original numbers. As the magistracies were succes- 
sively opened to the plebeians, the Senate gradually assumed a 
plebeian character, and the censors had little to do beside 
ratifying the popular vote. They therefore took the list, from 
which they removed all who had died or had been degraded since 
the last election, and any whom they might consider.as unworthy 
of the distinction, adding the names of those who, by virtue of 
their office, had been allowed to be present at the Senate since 
the last election without being actual senators. They then 
declared the number of vacancies and filled them up, it being 
necessary that both censors should concur in any election or 
omission. This being done, the official list of the Senate, the 
Album Senatorium as it was called, was solemnly read from the 



c. 350 b.c] EARLY HISTORY OF ROME 147 

rostra and exhibited for public inspection, the reasons for the 
exclusion of any one being stated. The person whose name 
stood at the head of the list was called Princeps Senatus, a 
purely honorary distinction, although it is probably the origin 
of our title prince. The number of the Senate was 300 until 
Sulla raised it to 600. The senators wore a gold ring, a tunic 
with a broad purple stripe, and a peculiarly constructed shoe, so 
that to change shoes was equivalent to becoming a senator. 
They had special seats reserved for them in the theatre and 
in the games. 

The Senate usually met in the Curia Hostilia in the Forum, but 
occasionally in different temples ; the building which served for 
its meetings at the close of the republic still exists as a church 
under the name of Sant' Adriano, one of the most interesting 
buildings in the world. The bronze gates which belonged to it 
are now the portals of St. John Lateran. To carry a motion, 
a certain number must be present, and therefore a count out 
was possible. A motion made in the Senate was called a relatio 
or a reference, and a vote passed was not a law but a Senatus 
consultum, that is, not an order, but a piece of advice. Indeed, 
the Senate was not a legislative but an advising body. It was 
a consultative body which assisted the executive 
in the administration of the government, and to tlle^enate 
it all executive officers were bound by traditional 
custom to submit all important measures, administrative or 
political, before their execution. Thus the influence of the 
Senate grew as the number of the magistrates increased. Even 
the highest magistrates shrank from engaging in a conflict with 
the Senate, composed, as it was of ex-magistrates, the elite of 
the citizens, who preserved their dignity for life. Therefore 
any advice it gave was certain to be accepted, and this is the 
secret of the immense power which the Senate exercised in the 
three last centuries of the republic, not only over general 
policy but over the administrative departments. 

The Senate had, among other things, the control of foreign 
affairs. The right of declaring war or making peace rested 
with the people ; but the Senate was charged 
with the preliminary negotiations. Foreign ^s & ^ U 
embassies were introduced to the Senate, and the 
Senate sent embassies to foreign countries ; it also assigned the 
provinces to the several governors, regulated the budgets, and 
declared the honours they were to receive. Thus while, tech- 
nically, the Senate only gave advice, and did not pass actual 



148 A GENERAL HISTORY [753-c. 350 e.g. 

laws, the persons of whom it was composed, and the remarkable 
complex of powers which was included in its grasp, and a few 
of which we have mentioned, made it, as I have said, the most 
distinguished and important political body which has ever existed 
in the world. 

Two important functions of the Senate we have not mentioned. 
One was the power, in an extreme crisis of the state, of passing 

a vote that the consuls should take care that no 
Law tlal harm snould befa11 the republic. This established 

a state of martial law, during which time all laws 
were suspended, and naturally the use of it and the duration 
of it were jealously watched. The other was the creation of 

a dictatorship, an extraordinary office, the holder 
The Die- Q £ wn j cn exercised absolute and almost royal 

power. It was first established about 500 B.C., 
shortly after the expulsion of the kings, and was found a very 
useful expedient to have recourse to in a constitution where the 
ordinary magistrates were subjected to such a number of checks. 
The official name of the dictator was Master of the People, and 
the manner of his appointment was peculiar. When the Senate 
had declared its opinion that a dictator ought to be appointed, 
the consul got up in the middle of the night, and, in absolute 
silence, nominated a dictator. After his appointment, he re- 
ceived the imperium by the vote of the curies. His importance 
was the same as that of the consul, but he had no colleagues 
to interfere with him, and he was more independent of the 
senate. His imperium was superior to that of the consul : there 
was no appeal against his actions, and he was irresponsible. 
He was supported by twenty-four lictors, carrying the rods 
with the axes. During the existence of a dictator, the ordinary 
magistrates did not abdicate, but they lost their independence 
of action, as they could only act with the dictator's consent. 
The tribunes preserved their veto, but could only use it if 
the dictator violated the law, as he was still bound by law ; 
but they retained their other powers, and the dictator was 
bound to respect their inviolability of person. Every dictator, 
after his appointment, nominated a master of the horse, who 
had the importance of a consul, but not the imperium. He 
abdicated simultaneously with the dictator. The last dictator 
of the original kind was appointed in 216 B.C. The dictator- 
ships of Sulla and Caesar were of a widely different character. 



CHAPTER IX. 

GROWTH OE THE POWER OF ROME, 390-201 B.C. 

The first important step in the subjugation of Italy by the 
Romans was the conquest of Yeii, a city about twelve miles 
from Rome, surrounded by walls seven miles in The 
circumference, pierced by nine gates. The siege Conquest 
is said to have lasted for ten years, like that of of Veii - 
Troy, and, for the first time in the existence of the city, a 
Roman army remained in the field year after year, till its 
object was accomplished. Veii surrendered in 346 B.C. to the 
energy of Marcus Furius Oamillus, who thus, as Mommsen says, 
opened to his countrymen the brilliant and perilous career 
of foreign conquest. The conquest of Veii gave Rome the 
possession of the teiritory as far as the Ciminian forest. The 
fateful year 390 B.C. witnessed the invasion of the Gauls, the 
defeat of the Roman army at the Allia, the capture and the 
sack of Rome, and the submission of its inhabitants. This 
victory, however, produced no lasting effect. It deeply im- 
pressed the imagination of the Romans as the most terrible crisis 
of their youth, but it left them stronger for action than before. 
Within twenty years of the destruction of the city, the colonies 
of Sutrium and Nepete were founded. A Roman colony was 
merely a military settlement, a handful of soldiers placed with 
their wives and children, in the midst of a hostile population, 
to guard the interests of the majesty of Rome. Caere, twenty- 
seven miles from Rome, was annexed twenty years later, but its 
inhabitants did not obtain full civic rights for the next fifty 
years. 

During the next half century, Rome turned her attention 
principally to the south. The two most dangerous enemies 
of Rome, beyond the plain of Latium, were the The Aequi 
Aequi, who lived in the mountains behind Tivoli, and the 
and the Volsci, who were settled in the hill beyond Yolsci. 
Monte Gavo. Of these the Aequi were the weaker. In order 
to plant a wedge between these two adversaries, the Romans 

149 



150 A GENERAL HISTORY [390 b.c. to 

built the formidable fortresses of Cora, Norba, and Signia. Cora, 
on its mountain crag, still shows the massive Roman walls of 
this period, built upon the remains of the former circumvalla- 
tions. The whole is crowned by a delicate temple dedicated 
to Hercules, which dates from the time of Sulla. At Norba, 
now called Norma, the Cyclopean walls of the Volscians, with 
their four gates, form a more conspicuous object than the later 
Roman fortifications. Segni has a huge gate which recalls the 
wonders of Stonehenge, and bears the curious modern name of 
the Gate of the Saracens. The Volsci were finally defeated by 
M. Furius Camillus, the conqueror of Veii, and the low country 
gradually submitted as far as Terracina. Colonies were estab- 
lished to keep the newly acquired districts in order, and the 
country was incorporated with Rome. 

Rome had now nothing more to dread from the enemies 

which a hundred years before imperilled her very existence. 

The Latins Within the limits of the lowland country which 

and the extended from the Ciminian forest to the shores 

Hernicans. f Terracina, she was by far the strongest power. 

She had achieved this position with the assistance of her 

ancient allies, the Latins and the Hernicans, and she was 

now to turn her arms against these allies themselves. Disputes 

arose in the Latin League which naturally led to war. The 

most important Latin fortresses, which crown the spurs of 

the Apennines and are visible from Rome, fell one by one 

into the power of the warrior city. The Hernicans, defended 

by their mountain strongholds, submitted after a conflict of 

four years, and Rome was now the leader, almost indeed 

the mistress, of these subject communities. 

This marks the close of the first stage of the union of 
Italy under the supremacy of Rome. In the year 343 B.C. 
Rome ^ e authority of Rome was obeyed from the 

supreme in Monte Cimino in the north to the Circeian 
Central promontory of Monte Circello in the far south, 

Jtaly. which overlooks the Bay of Naples. She was 

protected by a circle of dependent allies and colonies, reaching 
from Sutri in Etruria to Sora on the upper Liris. Rome 
had become, to a great extent, a world power. The news 
of her capture by the Gauls had reached even Athens, 
and in 343 she made a commercial treaty with the Cartha- 
ginians, by which they bound themselves to attack no Latin 
town which was subject to her, but if any should have re- 
nounced their allegiance they might be plundered and sacked 



201 b.c.] GROWTH OF POWER OF ROME 151 

by the Punic invaders, and then handed back to the mistress 
whose majesty they had contemned. 

The Romans now found themselves face to face with the 
Samnites, and a struggle for the mastery of Italy ensued 
between these two nations, which lasted for 
nearly a hundred and fifty years. The Samnites gamnites 
in their earlier history had to contend both 
with tne Etruscans and with the Greeks, and they conquered 
by sei2ing Oumae from the one and Capua from the other. 
Thus it came about that there were two sections of the 
Samnite race, one dwelling in the hills, and preserving the 
hardy habits of their forefathers, the other corrupted by 
the Greek demoralisation of the plains. Capua, which has 
become a proverb for luxurious sloth, was the chief town 
of this later division. The Capuans adopted Greek art, 
Greek writing, and Greek extravagance. The Samnite stock, 
thus divided by a deep chasm of conflicting principle and 
practice, fell an easy prey to the compact assault of Rome. 
In the first Samnite war the Romans were assisted by the 
Samnites of the plains against the Samnites of the hills. 
The Romans were victorious, but a terrible revolt followed 
which threatened the very existence of the ruling city. All 
the Latin towns, even Tusculum, which was a portion of 
Rome itself, threw off the Roman yoke. From the Campagna 
and the Latin hills, the flame of rebellion spread to Antium 
and Terracina, and to the most remote allies of the Romans, 
the cities of the Campanian plains. The position of Rome 
was critical ; the legions which had crossed the Liris were 
cut off from home, and only a decisive victory could save 
them. This was gained at a place called Trifanum, somewhere 
near the mouth of the Liris, in 340 B.C., when the Consul 
Titus Manlius Torquatus entirely crushed the united Latins 
and Campanians. Two years more sufficed to bring the whole 
country into complete subjection. 

The result of the crushing of this rebellion was to change 
entirely the nature of the position of Rome towards the 
Latin confederacy. The historic Latin League End of the 
was abolished, and its memory was only preserved Latin 
by the yearly Latin festival upon the Alban League. 
Mount. Most of the common land of the league became 
Roman territory ; Antium and Terracina, the two most im- 
portant of the Volscian coast towns, were settled as colonies, 
and the orators' platform in the Forum, which has perpetuated 



152 A GENERAL HISTORY [390 b.c. to 

to our own time the name of rostra, derived its title from 
its being decorated with the beaks of the galleys which were 
taken in the port of Antium and were found to be unservice- 
able. The Latin communities were forbidden to intermarry 
or to hold commercial relations with each other. They were 
not allowed to hold federal councils or to combine together 
in any way. The only tie which existed between them was 
a common connection with Rome, and this was based upon 
separate treaties between the capital and each individual state. 

The submission of Campania was secured by 
Campania. -, , L m, .• e 

even harsher measures. Ihe creation . of new 

tribes implied incorporation with Rome, and colonies vere 
established at Oalvi in the centre of the Campanian plain, 
and at Ceprano, to secure the passage of the Liris. The 
settlement of the lowlands was now complete. 

The second Samnite war, as it is called, lasted for twenty-two 
years. After a six years' struggle, which was, on the whole, 
The Second unfavourable to the Samnites, the Romans suf- 
Samnite fered a disaster the memory of which was never 

War — The forgotten. Their forces, under the command of 
Caudine the two consuls, were encamped in the plain of 

Naples between Caserta and Maddaloni. Hear- 
ing that the important town of Luceria was invested by the 
Samnites, they broke up and marched to its relief. Their 
route led through the country of the enemy by a road which 
was afterwards the post-road to Beneventum. Between the 
villages of Arpaja and Montesarcbio there lies a flat meadow, 
enclosed by steep wooded hills and shut in at either end by 
narrow defiles. The Romans entered the valley without sus- 
picion, but found that the extremity of it was blocked by 
broken trees. They endeavoured to retreat, but their march 
was cut off in that direction also. The hills were occupied 
by some of the enemy. They had fallen into a trap : nothing 
was left to them but to capitulate. The best course for the 
Samnites would have been to take the whole beaten army 
prisoners, but Pontius, their general, thought that this was 
an opportunity of making an honourable peace. He proposed 
that Rome should rase certain fortresses and renew her ancient 
alliance with Samnium. The Roman generals agreed to the 
terms ; they and their principal officers swore solemnly that 
they would observe them ; and six hundred Roman equites 
were left with the Samnites as hostages. The rest of the army 
were subjected to the disgrace of laying down their arms and 



201 b.c.] GROWTH OF POWER OF ROME 153 

passing under the yoke. Such was the great calamity of the 
Caudine Forks. 

As might have been expected, the Roman Senate rejected 
the terms, and prepared to avenge the disaster and the dis- 
grace. Within two years, the Consul Papirius Cursor re- 
covered Luceria, which had been captured by the Samnites, 
liberated the hostages who had been shut up in the city, and 
subjected the garrison to the same ignominious fate which his 
countrymen had before suffered. The war continued for many 
years longer, but the Romans pursued their undeviating pur- 
pose of becoming the masters of Italy with stubborn firmness 
and relentless energy. Luceria, the key of Apulia, received a 
permanent garrison of half a legion : the island of Ponza was 
occupied to secure the possession of the Campanian waters, the 
Romans not being indifferent to the power of the sea. The 
censor, Appius Claudius, constructed a great military road 
from Rome to Capua, known to all the civilised world as the 
Appian Way — the Queen of Roads — the mother, 
as it were, of all the great roads which in ancient w e PP ian 
and modern times have bound countries together 
in the bands of civilisation, and the grandmother of our rail- 
roads. The straight unflinching line, passing to its goal 
through plain and mountain, piercing the crag and filling up 
the marsh — hard as a road of adamant, yet open to the use of 
all the world — stern with the strength of simplicity, yet adorned 
in its course with the memorials of the great ones who had 
passed away — is a fitting emblem of that career of Rome which 
has been already described. Due north of Naples, just under 
the precipice of the Matese, with its eternal snows, lies the 
town of Bojano, which recalls the name of Bovianum, the 
capital of the Samnites at this period. In 307 it was attacked 
by the consular armies, one marching along the coast of the 
Adriatic, the other through the mountain passes from Cam- 
pania. A decisive victory was gained, the Samnite general 
was made prisoner, and the city was taken by storm. This put 
an end to the war, and the ancient treaty of alliance between 
the Romans and the Samnites was once more renewed. 

The third and last Samnite war broke out in the year 298 B.C., 
and lasted for eight years. It was a desperate attempt of the 
Samnites to unite with the enemies of Rome, the Third 
Etruscans and the Kelts, and to make a dash for Samnite 
freedom. They got together three armies, one for War. 
the invasion of Campania one for the defence of their own 



154 A GENERAL HISTORY [390 b.c. to 

territory, and the third and largest for the support of their 
allies, the Etruscans. The decisive battle was fought at Sen- 
tinum, a place in the Umbrian hills, not far from Sasso 
Ferrato, in the year 295 B.C. The Etruscan 
a tie o contingent had been weakened by an incursion 
of the Romans into their territory, but the Keltic 
allies stood firm. On the right wing, Quintus Fabius, with 
two legions, fought against the Samnite allies, and the battle 
was long and undecided. On the left the Roman cavalry were 
thrown into confusion by the Gallic war chariots, and the 
Roman legions began to give way. Then the consul, Publius 
Decius Mus, called to his side Marcus Livius, the priest, and 
bade him devote to the infernal gods the head of the Roman 
general and the army of the enemy. Like Arnold von Winkel- 
ried at the battle of Sempach, he plunged into the mass of the 
Gauls, and was slain. The soldiers rallied, the reserves came 
up, the Campanian cavalry charged, the Gauls fled, the Samnites 
yielded. ISTine thousand men were killed, but the victory was 
won. The struggle was prolonged for five years, but the 
Samnites were at last compelled to submit. Their conquest 
was marked by the foundation of the strong colony of Venusia, 
placed at the point where the territories of Samnium, Lucania, 
and Apulia join, on the high road to Tarentum. The Appian 
Way was continued from Capua to this colony, eventually to 
reach Brundusium. Rome was no longer merely the first, but 
the ruling power in the peninsula. 

The next enemy with whom Rome had to contend was of a 
very different character. King Pyrrhus of Epirus, a man now 
The War about forty years of age, was a brilliant general, 
with His father was a kinsman, and had been a vassal 

Pyrrhus. f Alexander the Great, and he had been trained in 
arms from his earliest youth. He was the handsomest man of 
his time, and his beauty was not impaired by the wildness of 
his look or the stateliness of his stride. He determined to 
found an empire in the West and to subdue the Greek cities of 
Italy and Sicily, and then to turn his arms against Carthage, 
the natural enemy of the Greeks in the West, as the Persians 
had been in the East. Of Rome it is probable that he knew 
little or nothing. A quarrel had broken out between Rome 
and the Greek city of Tarentum. The Tarentines applied for 
assistance to Pyrrhus, who, after some hesitation, agreed to 
give it on the condition that he should have supreme command 
of the Tarentines and of all the Italians who were arrayed 



201 b.c.] GROWTH OF POWER OF ROME i55 

against Rome, and that he should be allowed to keep a garrison 
in Tarentum, the city bearing the expense. He crossed the 
Adriatic with an army of 20,000 heavily armed troop3 to form 
the phalanx, 2000 archers, 500 slingers, 3000 cavalry, and 20 
elephants. 

The first battle fought ended in favour of Pyrrhus, chiefly in 
consequence of the elephants, which the Romans had never seen 
before. They frightened the horses, broke the 
ranks of the Roman infantry, and trampled upon „. ^ rr . 1C 
the fugitives. The Romans lost 15,000 killed 
and wounded, but Pyrrhus suffered nearly as much. He, 
indeed, said that such a victory was not much better than a 
defeat, and the proverbial expression, " Pyrrhic victory," pre- 
serves the memory of this to our day. After this lesson, 
Pyrrhus tried to make peace with the Romans, being anxious 
to turn his attention to Sicily and Africa ; but the Romans 
would not listen to his proposals, and he was forced to under- 
take a new campaign in the following year. In the meantime, 
he mai-ched against Rome, and arrived within forty miles of the 
city. No one came out to meet him, but the towns of Campania 
closed their gates against him and the Consul Lavinius hung 
upon his rear. He was forced to retire, and wintered in the 
neighbourhood of Tarentum. In the next year was fought the 
battle of Ausculum, in which, after two days' fighting, the 
Romans retreated and left Pyrrhus in possession of the field. 
But the result was another Pyrrhic victory, and Pyrrhus was as 
far as ever from effecting his object. Therefore, leaving garri- 
sons in the Greek towns, he retreated to Sicily. After three 
years he came back again, but was no longer treated as a de- 
liverer. A battle fought at Beneventum terminated in a 
victory for the Romans. The elephants, terrified by the 
archers, attacked their own people ; four of these strange beasts 
were captured, and were exhibited in triumph at Rome. 
Pyrrhus left Italy and retired to Greece, to perish in a street 
brawl three years later. 

After the death of Pyrrhus, Tarentum was captured, and the 
Lucanians and Bruttians submitted to Rome. The last city to 
yield was Rhegium, now Reggio, at the very ex- R ome 
tremity of Italy, just opposite Messina. This was Mistress of 
in 270 B.C., and with the submission of Reggio Italy, 
the conquest was complete, and Rome was the undisputed 
mistress of Italy. Her northern frontier was marked by a line 
drawn from the mouth of the Arno near Pisa to the mouth of 



156 A GENERAL HISTORY [390 b.o. to 

the Esino between Ancona and Sinigaglia. After the conquest 
of the Senones, a Gallic tribe who gave their name to the city 
of Sens in France and the river Seine, the frontier was removed 
to the Rubicon, a little stream just north of Rimini, whose 
name has become proverbial for the turning point of all great 
crises. 

When Rome had become mistress of Reggio and southern 

Italy, it was only natural that she should desire to cross the 

straits and occupy the island of Sicily. But here 

Carthage. ghe foun(J herself face to face with tlie Cartha- 
ginians, who had already become master's of a lai^ge part of 
that island. Carthage was situated on the northern coast of 
Africa, close by the modern Tunis. It was a powerful com- 
mercial state, a colony of Tyre ; the government was that of an 
autocracy of merchants. At its head were two Suffetes or 
judges, corresponding to the Shofetim or judges of the Jews, 
who were elected every year. There was also a Senate with 
legislative powers. A committee of thirty chosen from the 
Senate formed the executive, but there was also a Council of 
One Hundred, who, like the Spartan ephors (though these were 
much fewer in number) exercised supervision over the whole of 
the officials and the great concourse of state officers. As in Venice 
and Sparta, the ordinary citizens had very little share in the 
government. The Carthaginians worshipped Baal, Ashtaroth, and 
Moloch, but they did not reject the worship of foreign gods, and the 
priests had no influence on their community. There are among 
the Carthaginians few traces of intellectual life, although the 
picture given of them by Vergil, who must have known them 
well, does not exhibit any neglect of culture. They were 
devoted chiefly to the material gains of commerce, and it has 
been genei-ally supposed that they were cruel, treacherous, and 
false. Such charges should be received with caution. Such 
vices as these are generally attributed to a fallen foe, and their 
noble struggle against Rome is an evidence that they must 
have possessed many virtues, whereas nothing can be more cruel 
or heartless than their treatment by the Romans. They were 
very wealthy, and possessed, at one time, 300 colonies in 
Africa. They had a fleet of from 150 to 200 large ships, 
and their army consisted of mercenaries from Numidia and 
Mauretania. 

But their energies were not devoted to commerce alone ; they 
were also conquerors. They subdued all the country round 
them, and became masters of Sardinia, Cumae, and a portion of 



201 b.c.] GROWTH OF POWER OF ROME 157 

Sicily, besides planting colonies on the coasts of Spain and 
Africa to secure their commercial interests. With their splendid 
navy and their capacity as sailors they became masters of the 
sea. They were jealous of the growing power The Cartha- 
of Rome, and when, in 264, the Romans passed ginian 
into Sicily to assist the Mamertines against King Empire. 
Hiero of Syracuse, a war naturally broke out, and the result 
was the three Punic wars which occupy so important a place in 
the history of the world and ended in the entire destruction of 
Carthage. They lasted respectively from 264 to 241, from 218 
to 201, and from 149 to 146. We shall now give an account of 
the two first only, leaving the third to be narrated in a later 
chapter. 

Syracuse, which was founded by Corinth in 735 B.C., reached 
under Gelon, who reigned from 491 to 478, a high degree of 
prosperity. When, in 480, the Carthaginians Carthage 
attempted to establish themselves in the island, and 
they were defeated by Gelon in the battle of Syracuse. 
Himera, as has already been mentioned. We have also heard 
of the disastrous expeditions of the Athenians to Syracuse which 
brought about the fall of Athens. After this, the city was 
subject to the despotic government of Dionysius I. (406 to 365), 
who fought bravely against the Carthaginians, but was obliged 
to cede to them the western part of the island. He was suc- 
ceeded by his cruel son Dionysius II., against whom the Syracusan 
patriots summoned Timoleon to assist them. In the battle of 
Crimissus (343) he defeated the Carthaginians, who had been 
allies of the tyrant, and drove Dionysius from the throne, re- 
establishing democratic rule. In 317 Syracuse fell into the hands 
of Agathocles, a condottiere, who contended against the Car- 
thaginians with success, but after his death the Carthaginians 
regained their power. The Syracusans and their allies then 
invited to their assistance Pyrrhus, whose exploits in Italy 
have been already related, but he had little success, and was 
forced to retire. The Carthaginians now extended their 
dominion over the whole of Sicily, excepting the city of 
Syracuse, which kept its independence under Hiero II. He 
had an excellent army, with which he defended himself not 
only against the Carthaginians, but also against the maraud- 
ing Mamertines, a body of mercenaries who had been in the 
service of Agathocles. Mamers is another form of Mars, so that 
their name signified the sons of Mars. Pursued by Hiero, 
they threw themselves into the city of Messana, opposite 



158 A GENERAL HISTORY [390 b.c. to 

Rhegium, and naturally invoked the aid of the Romans from 
the neighbouring coast. 

In answer to this invitation, a Roman army crossed the 
straits under the command of Appius Claudius. Hiero and 
his Carthaginian allies were defeated. Messana 
irs .runic wag 0CCU pi ec i ? an( j tn e Carthaginians driven from 
the citadel. The Romans then advanced to 
Syracuse. Hiero now cast himself loose from the Cartha- 
ginians, and made an alliance with the Romans, with whom he 
remained friends till the end of the war. In the great struggle 
between Indo-Germanic and Semitic civilisation, he could not 
but take the side of enlightenment and progress. In 262 the 
allies conquered Agrigentum, a Punic arsenal, and, finding 
there a warship of the enemy, built in sixty days a fleet of 
120 ships on its model, with which Gaius Duilius defeated the 
hostile fleet in the first sea battle fought by the Romans. 
Four years later, in 256, Regulus vanquished the Carthaginians, 
in another sea fight, and the Romans were able to pass over 
into Africa. In Africa, the Romans pressed the Carthaginians 
so hard that they sued for peace ; but the Romans would be 
content with no other terms than the evacuation of Sicily and 
the acknowledgment of Roman suzerainty. So the Carthaginians 
continued the struggle with the help of the Spartan Xanthippus, 
and defeated the Romans in the battle of Tunis, in which 
Regulus was taken prisoner, so that the Romans were forced 
to leave Africa and retire to Sicily. 

In 250, the Consul Cecilius Metellus gained a brilliant 

victory at Panormus, which induced the Carthaginians again 

Victory of ^° as ^ ^ or P eace - ^ ne y sent Regulus to Rome 

Home The as their messenger, but he advised the Romans to 

Province of continue the war, after which he nobly returned 
Sicily. t Carthage, according to his promise, and died in 

captivity. The Romans, after several maritime disasters, 
which nearly induced them to give up the struggle by sea, 
placed Lutatius Catulus at the head of a new fleet of two 
hundred ships provided by public subscription, and with these, 
in 242, he gained a decisive victory at the Aegates Islands, so 
that the Carthaginians were compelled to make peace and to 
evacuate Sicily. Hamilcar Barca, however, succeeded in forti- 
fying himself in Monte Pellegrino, which overlooks Palermo, and 
afterwards in Eryx, and holding out for six years. The western 
part of Sicily became a Roman province, the first possession of 
the kind outside Italy. After the first Punic war, the Romans 



201 b.c.] GROWTH OF POWER OF ROME 159 

gained possession of Cumae and Sardinia, and of a portion of 
Illyria. They also defeated the Gallic tribes of northern Italy, 
who had made an invasion as far as Clusium. 
The first to be subdued were the Insubrians : then aues t s j n 
the Boii were conquered in 222 by Claudius the North. 
Marcellus at Clastidium. The capital of the In- Province of 
subrians, Mediolanum, now the powerful city of Gallia 
Milan, was taken, and the Romans became masters isa P man- 
of Italy as far as the Po. Northern Italy was organised as a 
province under the name of Gallia Cisalpina, and was secured 
by the creation of the military colonies of Cremona, Mutina, 
and Bononia. The Via Flaminia, which went to Ariminum, 
was continued over the Apennines, and was afterwards pro- 
longed to Placentia under the name of the Via Aemilia. 

In the meantime, the Carthaginians had not been idle, but, 
while the Romans were occupied in Cisalpine Gaul, had turned 
their attention to Spain, and had conquered the ip^ q^^. 
whole country as far as the Ebro. When the ginians in 
Romans were at liberty, they determined to put Spain — 
an end to this, and made an alliance with Hannibal. 
Saguntum. The Punic conquest of Spain had been effected 
by Hamilcar Barca and his son-in-law Hasdrubal. But, when 
Hasdrubal was murdered by some Gauls, Hannibal, the eldest 
son of Hamilcar Barca, was chosen to command the Cartha- 
ginian army, being then twenty-nine years old. He was 
assisted by his two younger brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago. 
This remarkable man is generally admitted to be one of the 
greatest generals the world has ever known. Brought up in 
the camp by his distinguished father, by whose side he stood 
when he received his death wound, he inherited all the virtues 
and capacities of a warrior. He surpassed his comrades in 
running, riding, and fighting, and his well trained body was 
able to bear every kind of fatigue. He was an excellent 
horseman, and secured the love and confidence of all who came 
into contact with him by the sweetness and strength of his 
character. To the older soldiers he seemed the image of his 
father, — the same countenance, the same fiery eyes, the same 
capacity both to command and to obey. Neither his body nor 
his mind was ever tired. He bore heat and cold with equal 
ease : his waking or sleeping hours were never defined by night 
or day. When his business was done, he rested, throwing 
himself down in the bivouac covered with his cloak. His 
arms and dress were simple j he was the best rider and the 



160 A GENERAL HISTORY [390 b.c. to 

best marcher in tbe army. He was always the first to attack 
and the last to retire, and failed in none of the qualities of a 
general. The stories of his cruelty and his falsity are 
inventions of his enemies. He was fond of literature and art, 
and spent his leisure hours with learned Greeks, especially the 
Spartan Sosilas. Like Napoleon, he possessed great personal 
fascination. His chief characteristics were his fervent patriotism 
and his untiring exertion for the welfare and the happiness of 
his country. 

Hannibal saw that a conflict between Rome and Carthage could 

not be avoided ; he therefore determined to take the initiative. 

In 219 he attacked Saguntum, which was in alli- 

Punic War ance with the Romans, and utterly destroyed it 
as a warning to the Spaniards not to make alliances 
with Rome. The Romans sent an embassy to Carthage, and asked 
that Hannibal might be delivered to them. When they hesi- 
tated, Quintus Fabius offered the choice of peace or war, and 
with enthusiasm they chose war. Hannibal determined to 
attack the enemy in his own country, and in 218 crossed the 
Alps into Italy. He took with him an army of 50,000 infantry, 
9000 cavalry, and 37 elephants ; but when he reached Turea he 
found in a review that he had only 20,000 infantry and 6000 
cavalry, the rest having perished on the road. One of the 
consuls, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, had been sent to Sicily 
with the idea of crossing over to Africa ; and the other, Publius 
Cornelius Scipio, after some difficulties and loss of time, landed 
at Pisa and went to meet Hannibal. Scipio was defeated, and 
nearly taken prisoner at the battle of the Ticinus; and his 
colleague, Sempronius Longus, who had hastened back to Italy, 
met with a similar disaster at the river Trebia. These victories 
secured to Hannibal the possession of northern Italy, as the 
people in the valley of the Po left the Romans and joined him. 

Scipio now went to his brother in Spain, where he had 
recovered from the Carthaginians the country between the 

The Battle Pyrenees and the Ebro, and Hannibal advanced 

of Thrasy- up the valley of the Arno towards central Italy. 

mene. Here he fought the battle of the Thrasymene 

Lake, and defeated the Consul Flaminkus, who lost half his 
army. He was tempted to march against Rome, but did not 
feel strong enough to do so. Therefore, he returned to Ancona 
on the east coast, and, marching round Rome to the south, reached' 
Campania, where he excited the subjects of Rome to revolt, but 
without much success. The Romans in their time of need had 



201 b.c] GROWTH OF POWER OF ROME 161 

recourse to a dictator, and appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus 
to the post. He adopted the course of not risking a battle, 
but of following Hannibal on the heights and 
continually threatening him. By this policy of en tat 
delay he gained the title of Cunctator, the man 
who delays ; and this has become so famous that " a Fabian 
policy " has become a part of every European language and 
has given its name to a party. At length he succeeded in 
shutting Hannibal up in a narrow pass near Oasilinum, but 
the Carthaginian saved himself by a cunning stratagem. 
Hannibal, after escaping from this trap, marched into Apulia. 
Here he circumvented Minucius, who was master of the horse 
to Fabius, who saved his subordinate by an act of noble 
generosity. 

In the following year, 216, the democratic party, tired of the 
dilatory proceedings of Fabius, elected as consul Caius Terentius 
Varro, who was known to be a man of enterpris- 
ing disposition. The senate succeeded with dim- Battle °* 
culty in giving him as his colleague the cautious 
Aemilius Paulus. The command of the army fell alternately to 
the lot of the two consuls, and Varro's impetuosity brought 
about the catastrophe of Cannae, the worst defeat the Romans 
had ever experienced since the disastrous day of the Allia. 
Cannae is in Apulia, close by the Aufidus. Here Aemilius fell 
with 89 senators and 70,000 soldiers, and Rome stood on the 
verge of ruin. The Roman army numbered 80,000 infantry and 
6000 cavalry ; the Carthaginians 40,000 infantry and 10,000 
cavalry ; but the superiority of 4000 horse gave the victory to 
Hannibal. The spirit of the Romans rose with their misfor- 
tunes, and they prevented Hannibal from attacking the capital, 
weakened as he was by receiving no reinforcements from Carthage, 
where the spirit of party was too strong to agree to his support. 
However, at last, he received 4000 Numidians under Bomilcar, 
40 elephants, and about 1050 talents ; and was able to attack 
the Lucanians and Samnites as well as to gain possession of 
Capua, where he wintered. It has always been supposed that 
the luxurious idleness of Capua corrupted the strength of his 
troops. New generals arose in defence of Rome by the side 
of the veteran Fabius — Marcellus, " the sword of Rome," and 
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. 

At this time Hannibal was assisted by an alliance with Philip 
III., king of Macedonia, and by the revolt of Syracuse, which 
joined the Carthaginians after the death of Hiero at the age of 

h 



i6 2 A GENERAL HISTORY [390.b.c.;t<5 

ninety. The Romans, however, built a fleet, and carried on the 
conflict with Philip, which is known as the first Macedonian 
war (214 to 204, see chap, xi,), while Marcellus 
Marcellus wag despatched with another fleet to recover Syra- 
cuse. The king of Macedonia was defeated by 
Valerius Laevinus, and Marcellus took Syracuse after a two years' 
siege, the town having been ingeniously and bravely defended 
by the science of Archimedes. Agrigentum also fell, and in 
206 the whole of Sicily became a Roman province. Rightly 
did Horace say that his country, like the holm oak in Algidus, 
grew by lopping, and gained strength and vigour from the 
steel which was wielded for its destruction. In 212 Hannibal 
occupied Tarentum, with the exception of the citadel, and the 
Romans besieged Capua. Hannibal attempted a diversion by 
marching right up to the gates of Rome, but he produced no 
effect, and Capua was forced to surrender. Marcellus gained 
further successes, and Hannibal was obliged to withdraw to 
Bruttium, at the extremity of the peninsula, and wait until 
his brother Hasdrubal could bring him reinforcements from 
Spain. 

To that country Publius Cornelius Scipio the Younger was 

sent in 214, to recover the territory which had been first won 

and then lost by his father. Two years later he 

Scipio the in fli ctec j suc h a defeat on Hasdrubal that he deter- 

* oun2T6r. 

mined to leave Spain and to join his brother in 

Italy. The duty of holding Hannibal in check had fallen to 
Fabius and Marcellus. Fabius, at the age of eighty, succeeded 
in recovering Tarentum ; but Marcellus, who had been chosen 
consul five times, was unfortunately killed near Verona while 
he was attempting to force Hannibal to a pitched battle. His 
place was taken by the consul Claudius Nero. Everything 
now depended upon the success of Hasdrubal. He had success- 
fully crossed the Alps, and was already in central Italy when 
he was attacked by the two consuls — Claudius Nero and Livius 

Salinator, who had already marched to his col- 
M^taurus & league's assistance before Hannibal was aware of 

his design — at Sinigaglia, on the liver Metaurus in 
Umbria. After a stoutly contested battle he was defeated and 
killed. Hannibal first learnt of this disaster by seeing the head 
of his brother, which had been cut off and thrown into the camp, 
and recognised that the doom of Carthage was at hand. In the 
same year (267), Scipio defeated Hanno and Mago at Baecula, and 



201 b.cJ GROWTH OF POWER OF ROME 163 

forced Syphax, the king of West Numidia, into an alliance with 
Rome ; and in the following year he conquered Gades, the last 
possession of the Carthaginians in Spain. He returned with 
much spoil to Rome, having organised Spain into two provinces 
divided by the Ebro. 

It was now time to carry the war into Africa, and the youthful 
Scipio was chosen consul and given Sicily as his province, 
although he was under the legal age. He landed _ . . . 
at Utica in 204, but was besieged there by Africa. 1 * 1 
Hasdrubal, the son of Giskon, assisted by Syphax, 
who had again joined the Carthaginians. Massinissa, however, 
the king of Eastern Numidia, came to his assistance, and he 
was able to escape. There was a feud between Syphax and 
Massinissa because Sophonisba, the beautiful daughter of Has- 
drubal, who had been promised to Massinissa, was now married 
by Syphax. Scipio, with the help of Massinissa, defeated Syphax 
and took him prisoner, and his capital Cirta, together with his 
wife, Sophonisba, fell into their hands. Massinissa now married 
Sophonisba, who was nothing loth, but Scipio was determined to 
lead her, together with Syphax, in his triumph. To avoid this 
disgrace Sophonisba received a cup of poison from the hand of 
Massinissa, and put an end to her life — a dramatic catastrophe 
which has afforded material for poetry. 

The Carthaginians now recalled Hannibal and Mago from 
Italy for the defence of their country, and, in 203, Hannibal, 
with a heavy heart and forebodings of evil, left Battle of 
the peninsula, where he had fought so bravely for Zama— End 
fifteen years. Mago did the same, but died on the of the War - 
voyage from his wounds. Hannibal, on reaching Africa, first 
took up a strong position in Hadrumentum, but, when Scipio 
advanced upon Carthage, he marched out to oppose him. A 
conference took place, where the two great generals met for the 
first time. They, however, came to no decision, and the result 
was left to the sword. On the following day the battle of Zama 
gave the victory to Scipio, and by it the Romans became the 
masters of the world. Hannibal now went to Carthage, which 
he had not seen since he was nine years old, and earnestly 
advised the Senate to make peace. Scipio would have preferred 
to conqtier Carthage, but he was not supported by Rome; he 
came to terms, and the war came to an end in 201. Carthage 
had to renounce all her possessions outside Africa ; to give up all 
her ships excepting ten, and all her elephants ; to pay ten 



164 A GENERAL HISTORY L390-201,b.c. 

thousand talents in fifty years, and to promise not to make 
war in Africa or anywhere else without the consent of the 
Romans. Scipio made Massinissa king of both Numidias, 
and returned to Rome, where he celebrated the most magni- 
ficent triumph ever seen in the city. He also received the 
title of Africanus. 



CHAPTER X. 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND HIS SUCCESSORS, 33G-213 B.C. 

Alexander, rightly called the Great, one of the most remarkable 
men who were ever born into the world, succeeded to his father's 
throne at the age of twenty. He combined the 
warlike courage and the reckless activity of his Alexan der 
father with the exuberant fancy and the enthusi- 
astic excitability of his mother, and to these qualities was 
added an admirable training. His physical education was en- 
trusted to a Macedonian, Leonidas, his mental and spiritual 
to Aristotle, " the first of those who know." He was prominent 
in all manly sports, and alone could tame the wild horse 
Bucephalus. He combined marked energy and ambition with 
a romantic love for the marvellous and the uncommon. He was 
born in the year 356, on the night when Herostratus set fire to the 
temple of Artemis at Ephesus. In early youth he was inflamed 
with admiration for Homer, whose works he always kept under 
his pillow : he longed to be an Achilles and chose Hephaestus 
for his Patroclus. His desire was to conquer the world, and he 
was afraid that his father would leave him nothing more to do 
in this respect. When he had annihilated the Holy Company 
of the Thebans at Chaeronea, his father said to him, " My son, 
seek some other empire which is worthy of you. Macedon is 
too small." 

Immediately after his succession had been recognised in 
Macedonia, he hastened to attend the meeting of the league at 
Corinth, where he was elected absolute commander- Greek 
in-chief of the Greeks. His first exploit was to Revolt 
reduce to obedience the wild tribes of the north, suppressed. 
the Triballi, the Paeonians, the Illyrians, and others. When he 
was fighting on the Danube, a false report reached Greece that 
he was killed, and Demosthenes advised a rebellion. The 
Thebans were the only nation to hear this advice and to drive 
out the Macedonian garrison. Suddenly Alexander appeared 
in Greece with an army of 20,000 men, conquered Thebes, and, 

165 



166 A GENERAL HISTORY [336 b.c. to 

by the decision of the Corinthian League, ordered it to be entirely 
destroyed ; only the citadel, the temple, and the house of Pindar 
were preserved. The inhabitants, to the number of 30,000, were 
sold into slavery. 

Alexander now began the attack upon Persia which his father 
had left unaccomplished, and, after entrusting the care of 
.pkg Macedonia and Greece to Antipater, he set forth 

Invasion of with an army of 30,000 infantry, and 4500 
Persia. cavalry. The phalanx, which was the kernel of 

his host, was formed of 12,000 Macedonians under Perdiccas 
and Craterus. The cavalry were commanded by Philotas, the 
son of Parmenio, who was made commander-in-chief. He was 
also accompanied by 160 ships, of which twenty were Athenian. 
The king of Persia at this time was Darius III., called 
Codomannus, who had succeeded in 336. Darius placed in 
Asia Minor a mercenary army of Greeks under the command of 
the Rhodian Memnon, and sent his Phoenician fleet to the 
Hellespont to prevent the landing of the invaders. However, 
Alexander crossed the strait without difficulty, celebrated games 
and offered sacrifices to the memory of Achilles, occupied Lamp- 
sacus, and reached the river Granicus, where he gained a brilliant 
victory, fighting so bravely himself that his life was with 
difficulty saved by his officer, black Clitus. The whole of Asia 
Minor was now open to him. 

However, before he penetrated into the interior of Asia, he 
wished to make sure of the coast, so that he might not be cut 
off from Europe by the Phoenician fleet. Therefore, after 
occupying Sardis, he secured the Greek towns on the coast, who 
promised to close their harbours to the Persian fleet. He met 
with no important resistance except in Miletus and Halicar- 
nassus, which he speedily overcame. Memnon now attempted 
to induce the Spartans to make a diversion by attacking 
Macedonia. He succeeded in conquering Chios and Lesbos, 
and obtained other small successes, but was prevented from 
carrying out his larger plans by bis death in 133. Alexander 
now divided his army into two sections, despatching one under 
Parmenio into Phrygia, while he marched along the coast with 
the other. But the difficult passes of Cilicia compelled him 
to join Parmenio and to winter in Gordiana, where he dis- 
tinguished himself by cutting the knot which bound together 
the ancient war chariot of King Gordias with his sword, an 
exploit which, according to prophecy, secured him the dominion 
over Asia, When the winter had passed, he crossed the Halys, 



213 b.c.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT 167 

and then proceeded by the Cilician Gates to Tarsus, where he 
-nearly died from a fever produced by his bathing in the ice- 
cold water of the river Cydnus. 

Darius was awaiting his approach in Syria with a countless 
host in the broad plain of Onchae. It it said that he commanded 
an army of 600,000 motley troops. Perhaps, if 
he had waited with patience in the low country, . ^ j ssas 
his enormous forces might have overwhelmed the 
much smaller body of the Greeks, but he let himself be 
persuaded to advance into the mountains, where his numbers 
were rather a hindrance than an advantage. The result was 
the battle of Issus, fought at the beginning of November 333, 
in which the whole army of Persians was put to flight, and 
Darius only saved himself by the sacrifice of his chariot, his 
shield, and his royal mantle. Darius fled over the Euphrates, 
but his camp was captured, where Alexander found the children 
of Darius, his mother Sisigambis, and his wife Stateira, the 
most beautiful woman in Persia, whom he treated with the 
greatest respect, for which Darius thanked him, offering him 
peace and half his kingdom, which Alexander declined. At 
the same time, Parmenio conquered Damascus, where he found 
the chest of war, the gold and silver vessels, the silken carpets, 
and all the appurtenances of the court, which the great king had 
sent there for security, and of which he took the undisputed 
possession. Parmenio said that if he were Alexander he would, 
after this, abstain from any further conquests; "So would I," 
said Alexander, " if I were Parmenio." 

Alexander had no difficulty in subduing the Phoenician towns ; 
the only city which offered any serious resistance was Tyre, the 
chief part of which was situated on an island. 
Seven months were spent in besieging it, and its Twf ° 
destruction put an end to the supremacy of its 
commerce, which naturally passed into the hands of Carthage. 
From the coast, Alexander then proceeded to Palestine and 
visited Jerusalem. He offered in the temple a sacrifice to 
Jahve, according to the Jewish ritual, released the Jews from 
the payment of taxes in every Sabbatical year, and did not 
interfere with their theocratical government. He next, with 
some difficulty, subdued Gaza, which opened up to him the road 
to Egypt, where he was well received by the priests, and 'explained 
to them his plans for the Hellenising of Egyptian life. With 
this view he founded Alexandria at the western mouth of the 
Nile, a city which has had a profound effect upon the civilisation 



1 68 A GENERAL HISTORY [336 b.c. to 

of the world, and may have it again. It was a stroke of genius 
to discover a site for a new city which has never since its founda- 
tion been obscure, which has not only been a place 
Alexandria Q f commei . eia i exchange between India and Europe, 
but the focus of an Hellenic culture less pure, 
indeed, than the original production of Hellas itself, but better 
calculated to influence the world. Even now there is no more 
interesting spot than Alexandria. No one can see without 
emotion the harbour closed on one side by the grave of Cleopatra, 
or travel along the mounds of sand which lie between it and 
Aboukir, strewn at every step with the relics of an exuberant 
civilisation. The city destroyed by the Mohammedans is marked 
by the column of Pompey, but the ground may some day yield 
its secrets, and a new race under a better government may make 
Alexandria and its neighbour, Port Said, again the meeting 
place of East and West. From Alexandria the young conqueror 
went with a chosen body of troops to the frontier of the Cyrenaic 
kingdom, from which he received ambassadors and presents. 
From Cyrenaica he made an expedition with a small chosen 
band to the shrine of Zeus Ammon, the oracle temple of the 
mysterious divinity in the oasis of Siva. The small body of 
troops reached the oasis led by ravens. The high priest greeted 
the conqueror in the vestibule of the temple as the son of God, 
which greatly enhanced his reputation. A legend grew up that 
Alexander was the son of Zeus Ammon, who had visited his 
mother Olympias in the form of a dragon. 

Alexander now received the welcome news of the destruction 
of the Persian fleet by his admiral, Hegelochus, upon which he 
left Egypt, returned to Phoenicia, and, holding 
Arh I ° festival in honour of his victories, crossed the 
Euphrates by two bridges at Thapsacus. Darius 
was now awaiting him with a very large army composed of 
Persians and Medes, the hosts of the Caucasus, Bactrians, and 
Armenians, the inhabitants of the Indian mountains and the 
Babylonian plains — indeed the whole population of the East — 
countless myriads of infantry, 40,000 cavalry, and 200 scythed 
chariots. Europe and Asia armed themselves for a decisive battle, 
of which the mastery of the East was the prize. Alexander- 
crossed the Tigris a few miles above Mosul, and, on October 1, 
331, fought the battle of Arbela, gaining a brilliant victory 
over an army twelve times as numerous as his own. At the 
head of the Macedonian knights, he drove a powerful wedge 
into the centre of the huge mass, and threw it into confusion. 



213 b.c.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT 169 

Darius fled as at Issus, and everything was lost. He reached 
Ecbatana, leaving all his treasures in Arbela as the booty of 
the conqueror. Alexander advanced to Babylon. Here the 
inhabitants, led by the priests, greeted him with joy and 
decorated him with flowers. Here too, as in Egypt and in 
Palestine, he sacrificed to the national gods. He stayed thirty 
days in Babylon, giving himself up to luxurious delights. He 
then went to Susa, which made no resistance, and seized all 
the treasure, fifty thousand talents of gold and silver, precious 
stones, purple robes, and costly fabrics. He also sent back to 
Athens the original statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton, 
which had been carried off by Xerxes. His next objective was 
Persepolis, the Sublime Porte of the Persians, the cradle of their 
race, the burial-place of their kings. The Susan Pass was de- 
fended by 40,000 Persians under the command of Ariobarzanes, 
but he attacked them bravely on the snow and ice, and forced the 
passage, while Ariobarzanes escaped to join Darius at Ecbatana. 
Ten thousand pairs of mules and 3000 camels were required to 
carry off the treasure of Persepolis and Pasargadae. He burnt 
Persepolis, lighting, it is said, the cedar gates of the palace 
with his own hands, when he was drunk with wine and stimu- 
lated by the dancer Thais, in revenge for the destruction of the 
Greek temples by the Persians, a hundred and fifty years before. 
He was now accepted as Lord of Asia, and the Alexander 
drachma, coined on the Athenian model, became the standard 
coin of the world. He found in Persepolis eight hundred Greek 
prisoners, who had led a wretched life, blinded and mutilated, 
and the sight of these stirred him to fury. 

In May 330, he set out for Media, hoping to find Darius 
in Ecbatana, but he had fled through the Caspian Gates into 
Bactria, the original home of the Iranians. How- 
ever, the traitor Bessos, who was a relation of Darius° 
the king, formed a plan of murdering him and 
seizing his throne. Alexander, hearing of the conspiracy, 
hastened after Darius, marching day and night over mountains, 
deserts, and waterless wastes. At last he came up with him 
on June 3 at Hekatompylos. As he approached, Bessos and 
his fellow conspirators murdered the king, and made off. 
Alexander, on reaching the king's chariot, found him a corpse. 
He covered him with his mantle, and brought his body back to 
Persepolis, where he delivered it to his mother Sisigambis. So 
perished Darius Codomannus, the last of the Achaemenids. 
Alexander now advanced into Bactria, where Bessos had 



170 A GENERAL HISTORY [336 b.c. to 

made himself king. He founded here the Asian Alexandria, 
where the roads from Hyrcania, Parthia, Margiana, and Bactria 

Alexander meet, and the inhabitants of Herat recognise 

in Central to-day Alexander as the founder of their city. 

Asia. Proceeding farther through unknown countries, 

he founded a third Alexandria at Kandahar, which he hoped 
would assist his plans for uniting the East and the West by the 
bands of Hellenic culture. His army now became discontented, 
partly at the hardships of the march, and partly at the Eastern 
magnificence with which Alexander began to surround himself. 
Unfortunately Parmenio and his son Philip were at the head 
of the malcontents. A conspiracy against the life of Alexander 
was formed, which came to the knowledge of Philotas, but 
which he did not reveal. He was tried by court-martial, 
sentenced to death, and killed by the lances of his comrades. 
Parmenio, who was also implicated, was now at Ecbatana, and 
it was feared that when he heard of his son's death he might 
renounce his allegiance and oppose the retreat of the army. 
Orders were therefore sent to kill him, which was done, and 
his head was dispatched to Alexander. After inflicting on 
Bessos the punishment of crucifixion, Alexander advanced to 
the Jaxartes, where he made himself master of the frontier 
fortress of Cyropolis, and founded on the river the farthest of 
the Alexandrias, Alexandria Eschate, represented to-day by the 
caravan city of Kodjhend. This was the farthest limit of his 
conquests, but he crossed the Jaxartes to put down a rising of 
the Scythians. In the remote citadel of Sogdiana, he found, 
among other treasures, the lovely Roxana, the pearl of the 
East, the daughter of Prince Oxyartes. Overcome by her 
charms, Alexander made her his wife. During the winter of 
328 to 327, he reduced the country to a condition of complete 
tranquillity. His reputation was now marred by the hasty 
murder, in a drunken brawl, of the faithful Clitus, the man 
who had saved his life at the Granicus, and whose sister had 
been his nurse — a sudden outburst of passion which he bitterly 
regretted. 

He now determined to march to India at the invitation of the 

prince of Taxila, to assist him against Porus, who had founded a 

kingdom beyond the Hydaspes with more than a 

of India 11 hundred cities. At the end of the spring of 327, 

he set out with an army of 100,000 men for Kabul 

and the Indies. He crossed the mountain chain of Paripamisus 

and the rivers Kophen and Choaspes, and reached the Indus, 



213 b.c.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT 171 

where he built a fleet, with which he crossed the Indus in the 
spring of 326. Here he met his ally, and confirmed him in his 
dominions. He swam the Hydaspes on his horse Bucephalus, 
and inflicted a severe defeat on Porus, whose army was defended 
by three hundred caparisoned elephants. He treated Porus 
with great generosity, set him at liberty, and gave him back his 
dominions. He also founded two towns at the most important 
crossing of the Hydaspes. Shortly after this he came into the 
country of the so-called free Indians, who had no king and 
offered a vigorous opposition. On reaching the Hyphasis, he 
was informed that he was only twelve days' march from the 
Ganges, where he would find a splendid country with populous 
towns, industrious inhabitants, and a settled government. He 
longed to reach the promised land. But it was the end of his 
expedition. His Macedonians refused to go any farther. 
Alexander failed to move them. He remained for three days 
sullen in his tent, but when, on the fourth day, the auspices for 
crossing the river were unfavourable, he gave orders for the 
retreat. Before he retired he built twelve huge altars on the 
banks of the Hyphasis, to remind posterity that a giant race 
had visited these regions. He offered sacrifices on these altars, 
while his soldiers disported themselves in the meadows with 
military games. 

Having constructed a fleet of 180 ships, he sailed down the 
Hydaspes, the rest of his army marching along the two shores. 
When he reached the confluence of the Hydaspes with the 
Hycrates, the Multan of to-day, he spent some time in subduing 
the warlike Mallians, and stormed their capital. Here he 
conducted himself with such reckless bravery that he nearly 
lost his life. At last, in February 325, he reached the Indus. 
Here the inhabitants brought him countless presents and 
invoked his mercy. He founded here another Alexandria on 
the southern frontier of the Punjab. He conquered the 
Sogdiani, and the Praestians, with their powerful prince 
Musikanos. After his departure, a rebellion took place which 
Alexander . put down with great severity, which induced the 
prince of Patala to submit himself without trouble. Patala, 
situated at the water-parting of the Indus Delta, was strongly 
fortified by the Macedonians, and provided with docks and 
harbours. Alexander remained at Patala for some time, 
occupied with matters of administration, and endeavouring to 
bring the countries of India into commercial connection with 
Persia. When he left, he sailed down the Indus to its mouth, 



172 A GENERAL HISTORY [336 e.g. to 

and set himself to explore the country and to see whether he 
could make a connection between the Indus and the Persian 
Gulf. He then explored the other arm of the river, and 
returned to Patala. 

The retreat was as masterly as the advance. Nearchus was 
sent in command of the fleet to find his way along the coast of 
India into the Persian Gulf to the mouth of the 
from India 1 Euphrates, while Alexander determined to proceed 
through Gedrosia, the modernBeluchistan, partly 
with the view of subduing the inhabitants and partly to keep in 
touch with the fleet. After conquering the Orites on the coast 
and crossing the passes of the Gedrosian mountains, he entered 
upon the terrible sandy desert, where the army suffered from 
hunger and thirst, heat and dust, sickness and depression. It 
was only Alexander's untiring energy which brought his army, 
after a march of sixty days, and the loss of a quarter of his men, 
to the city of Pura, from which he reached Carmania. Here he 
met Craterus, and shortly afterwards Nearchus, who told him 
that the fleet had reached a safe harbour, with plenty of pro- 
visions. On hearing this, Alexander burst into tears. Nearchus 
related all the wonders he had seen during his voyage of eighty 
days, the narrow passages through which he had sailed, the 
storms which he had encountered, the want of food among the 
fish-eaters, the whales and sea monsters, the pearl islands, and 
other marvels, which seemed to recall the stories of the Odyssey. 
A week was spent in uproarious enjoyment. 

When the festivities were over, Nearchus continued his 
voyage to the Persian Gulf, and Hephaestus, with the greater 
part of the army, marched along the. coast to Susa, to meet Alex- 
ander who, with the Macedonian knights and the light-armed 
troops, took the way through Persepolis and Pasargadae. There 
he found that those whom he had left behind had behaved very 
badly, and he punished them with great severity. Harpalus, the 
treasurer, fled to Athens. There, too, Alexander carried out his 
scheme of effecting a union of East and West by a number of 
mixed marriages. He took two wives to himself, the elder 
Attempted daughter of Darius, by name Stateira, and the 
Fusion of younger sister of Artaxerxes III., called Pary- 
East and sates. Hephaestus married the younger daughter 
West. f Darius, and eighty other Macedonian nobles 

were united to Persian wives. Besides this there was a sort 
of group marriage of 15,000 Macedonians with an equal number 
of Persians, these marriages being richly dowered by the king. 



213b.c] ALEXANDER THE GREAT 173 

When Alexander went further than this, and incorporated 
30,000 Persians in the Macedonian army, there was a mutiny 
among the veterans, who asked for their dismissal. Alexander 
said that he could do without them, and sent them back 
with plenty of money, under the command of Craterus. All 
this occurred in the camp of Opis on the Tigris. He was 
anxious to found a kingdom in which Persians and Macedonians 
should have equal rights, but in which the Hellenic language 
and culture should prevail, and to this noble end he devoted the 
last years of his life. From Opis he went to Media, to 
establish the security of the caravan road from the attacks of 
the Cossaeans ; he visited the sculptured rocks of Baghistan ; he 
spent some time in the capital Ecbatana, where the autumn was 
brightened with feasts and speeches of all kinds, including 
character performances and poetical contests. It is said that 
three thousand Greeks were assembled there. But suddenly 
a terrible blow fell upon him in the death of Hephaestus. 
He sat for three days by the side of the corpse without food or 
drink, sometimes weeping aloud, sometimes dumb with sorrow. 
The body was taken with much ceremony to Babylon. 

In the winter of 324 to 323, he again attacked the tent- 
dwelling Cossaeans, but the death of his friend had broken his 
spirit and impaired his energies. At the begin- 
ning of the year 323 he went to Babylon, which ^t Babylon. 
he had destined for the capital of his new empire. 
Here he found ambassadors of all nations, from Greece, Asia, 
Libya, Aethiopia, and Italy, some to flatter the conqueror, some 
to invoke his aid in their disputes. He showed himself espe- 
cially favourable to the Greeks. Whilst he was preparing for 
the funeral ceremonies of Hephaestus, he found leisure to build 
a fleet to explore the Caspian, and projected an expedition to 
Arabia. He sailed down the Euphrates to inspect the great 
barrage of Pallakopas, and to consider the building of a com- 
mercial town on the lower part of the river. In May he 
returned to Babylon, to celebrate the funeral of his friend. 
The burning bier of Hephaestus was raised to a height of 200 
feet at enormous expense, crowned with gold and purple, 
decorated with pictures and statues. These were all consumed 
by the flames, and the ceremonies ended with a great funeral 
banquet, to which the whole army was invited. But the strain 
was too much even for the iron constitution of Alexander. He 
became seriously ill, and removed to the garden palace of 
Nebuchadnezzar, on the other side of the river. Here he 



174 A GENERAL HISTORY [336 e.g. to 

lingered for a week, and at last died on June 13, 323, at the 
age of thirty-two years and eight months, a hero and a con- 

„. n queror without a rival in the history of the world. 

No one, excepting perhaps Napoleon, has so deeply 
affected the imagination of mankind — certainly not his great 
rival, Julius Caesar. He lives in history, poetry, and legend. 
The name of Iskander is as powerful in the East as that of 
Alexander in the West. 

He named no successor at his death, but, when he felt that 
his end was approaching, he drew the signet ring from his 
finger, and gave it to his old and trusty servant Perdiccas. 
There arose after Alexander's death, in the very chamber of 
death itself, a conflict as terrible and more distressing than any 
which he had taken part in during his life. Roxana was to 
bear a child, and it was eventually decided that Perdiccas 
should be regent until the child was born, and perhaps after- 
wards. She bore a son, and gave him the name of Alexander, 
but his fate need not concern us. The history of 

D A h" ^ e Diadochi, the successors of Alexander, is a 
weary tale, full of changing dynasties and obscure 
conflicts — important, no doubt, in its general aspect to the history 
of the world, as it determined what form Hellenism should finally 
take, but involved in detail — until the empire of Alexander fell 
once more under the power of Rome. We can only sketch it in 
outline. Indeed, the true history of the period is not precisely 
known, and still awaits the hand of the excavator and the skill 
and insight of the historian to penetrate its secret and to give 
it life. 

The dead body of Alexander lay in the palace of Babylon 
until his son was born. The funeral was celebrated even with 
more pomp than the obsequies of Hephaestus had been, and it 
was intended that his body should be carried back to Aegae and 
buried in the place from which his race had originally come ; 
but there was a conflict for the honour of possessing his 
remains, which were supposed to have a magical value, and it 
is generally stated that he was buried at Alexandria. But the 
whole subject is involved in mystery. What matters where his 
body lies, when his spirit is still alive in every portion of the 
civilised globe ? 

When it had been decided that Perdiccas should rule in 
Asia, and Antipater with the help of Craterus in Europe, it was 
arranged that Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, should govern Egypt 
and Libya ; Antigonus, Phrygia, Lycia, and Pamphilia ; Leon- 



218 b.c.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT 175 

natus, the Phrygian Hellespont ; Cassander, Caria ; Lysimachus, 
Thrace, with the Chersonese ; and Eumenes, the only great man 
among them, Pontus, Paphlagonia, and Cappa- First Divi- 
docia. When the news of Alexander's death sion of the 
reached Athens, Demosthenes thought that the Empire, 
opportunity should be used to re-assert Grecian independence, 
and the result was the Lamian war, so called 
because Antipater controlled it from the fortress w J 3 amian 
of Lamia in Thessaly, where he awaited the arrival 
of his allies Leonnatus and Craterus. Leonnatus was killed, 
but, with the help of Craterus, Antipater won the battle of 
Crannon in 322, which put an end to the war. Demosthenes, 
greater as an orator than as a statesman, poisoned himself in the 
temple of Poseidon, in the island of Kalauria, near Troezen. 

When Perdiccas was slain by his own troops in 321, the 
idea of a single ruler of the whole empire came to an end, and 
a struggle for supremacy began, and lasted nearly 
two hundred years. This became more accen- rjiadochi & 
tuated by the death of Antipater in 318. The 
conflict was continued in Europe by the struggle between 
Polysperchon, whom Antipater had named as his successor, and 
Cassander, the son of Antipater, and in Asia, between the 
faithful Eumenes and Antigonus and his son Demetrius 
Poliorcetes. Polysperchon was defeated by Cassander, and 
Eumenes was betrayed by his own troops to Demetrius, who 
had him executed in 315. In 311 Cassander also killed Roxana 
and her son Alexander. After this, Seleucus appeared on the 
scene, whom Antipater had made viceroy of Babylon, and 
Cassander, Lysimachus, Antigonus, and Ptolemy were all 
fighting together. Eventually Seleucus prevailed, and Ptolemy 
kept his position, so that we have for some time a rule of 
Seleucidae in Asia and of Ptolemies in Egypt. In 307 Athens 
was captured by Demetrius Poliorcetes from another Demetrius, 
called Phalereus because he resided in Phalerum, to whom the 
city had been given by Cassander in 317. Antigonus was 
soon afterwards summoned by his father to Asia, to assist him 
against Ptolemy, whom he defeated at the Cyprian Salamis. 
Antigonus now assumed the title of king, and his example was 
followed by his rivals. Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and 
Ptolemy now united against Antigonus, and in 
300 a battle was fought at Ipsus, in Phrygia, in ?^™ e of 
which Antigonus was slain, and the result was 
the foundation of four independent kingdoms, of which three 



176 A GENERAL HISTORY [336 b.c. to 

only are of importance. Lysimachus had Thrace, Pontus, and 
nearly the whole of Asia Minor ; Seleucus Mesopotamia, Syria, 
and the rest of Asia Minor ; and Ptolemy Egypt with Coele-Syria. 
Of these Lysimachus disappeared, and the Seleucidae and the 
Ptolemies alone remained. When the first Ptolemy (Soter) died 
Final Divi- a ^ the age of 83, Seleucus made war against 
sion of the Lysimachus, and defeated him in the battle of 
Empire. Kuropedion in 281. Lysimachus fell, and Thrace 

came into the hands of Seleucus, who destined it for the chil- 
dren of Agathocles, the son of Lysimachus. But Seleucus was 
murdered by Ptolemy Keraunos, the elder son of the first 
Ptolemy, who thereupon seized the throne of Thrace. The 
scene now shifts to Macedonia, where Antigonus 
andSeece Gonotas > the son of Demetrius Poliorcetes, laid 
claim to the country. But Keraunos, supported 
by the power of Egypt under his brother Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
seized the throne and was acknowledged as king. In 279, 
Greece, already a much afflicted country, was again invaded by 
the Gauls, or Kelts, who had already occupied England, Ireland, 
Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, a large portion of Austria, and 
lllyria. Keraunos threw himself bravely against them, but 
was slain, and his work was completed by Sosthenes. A period 
of anarchy succeeded until, in 277, Antigonus Gonotas was 
recognised as king of Macedonia. Antigonus proved a wise 
and statesmanlike ruler, and was really master of Greece until 
a hope of liberty began to dawn for that country under the 
Achaean League, which began by a union of twelve democratic 
towns, who made for themselves a kind of federal republican 
constitution. 

This league assumed more importance from the accession of 

Sicyon, which had, in 252, been set free from Macedonian rule 

Achaean and by Aratus. In 246, he also liberated Corinth and 

Aetolian attached it to his league. The spirit gradually 

Leagues. spread to the rest of the Peloponnesus, and the 

Macedonian rule disappeared. A similar league, but less 

powerful and important, came into existence in Aetolia. In 

order to oppose this, Aratus had recourse to Sparta, which 

was then ruled by a young and energetic king, Agis IV. 

Unfortunately, the Aetolian League was assisted by Antigonus, 

but Aratus succeeded in subduing them both in 241, when 

Antigonus made peace with him. In the same year Agis was 

murdered by the oligarchical party in Sparta. 

Antigonus died in 240, an excellent monarch, who had sue- 



213 b.c.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT 177 

ceeded in making Macedonia the third great power in the 
Hellenic world. The throne fell first to his son, Demetrius II., 
who reigned for ten years, and then to Antigonus Doson, the 
man who was always going to give but never did. In Sparta, 
an effort was made to resist the Aetolian League by the young 
king, Cleomenes II., who followed the example of 
Agis. He tried to make the constitution a real eomenes. 
monarchy by abolishing the ephors, and to make Sparta once 
more the mistress of the Peloponnesus. He succeeded in de- 
feating Aratus, and in killing the ephors, banishing the friends of 
an oligarchical party government, and restoring the constitution 
of Lycurgus. He carried on a war with the Aegean League 
for six years, from 227 to 221, with such success that Aratus 
was obliged to throw himself into the arms of Macedonia. 
Doson marched into the Peloponnesus, put himself at the head 
of the Achaean League, conquered Arcadia, destroyed Mantinea 
and Megalopolis, and at length defeated Cleomenes in the battle 
of Sellasia, thus putting an end to what is called the Cleo- 
menian war. Cleomenes fled to Egypt, where, instead of 
friendship, he found imprisonment and death. In Sparta, 
Doson restored the oligarchy, and induced the city to enter 
into the Macedonian confederacy, but both it and the Achaean 
League had lost all power. After the death of Doson, Aratus 
was poisoned by his successor Philip III. In 213, Philopoemen 
succeeded in restoring the Achaean League and obtaining the 
adhesion of Sparta. But this belongs properly to the history 
of Rome, to which we must presently devote our attention. 
The fall of the Achaean League was the end of Greece. 

We can now follow the fortunes of Syria under the Seleucidae 
and of Egypt under the Ptolemies. 

After the battle of Ipsus, Seleucus Nicator reigned over the 
largest portion of Alexander's empire, but it was deficient in 
unity and was weak on the northern frontier, so, 
in order to give it strength, he organised its Empire of 
government in seventy-two satrapies. The king- 
dom, however, began to find a natural separation into the 
countries hither of and beyond the Tigris, and in each of these 
divisions a new city was founded, Seleucia on the Tigris, and 
Antiochia on the Orontes, both of which were instinct with 
Hellenistic culture. Antioch was the rival in art and science of 
Alexandria and Pergamum. Among the towns of Asia Minor 
and its neighbourhood, Byzantium, Heraklea, and Rhodes re- 
nounced the allegiance of the Seleucidae, and were given up 

M 



178 A GENERAL HISTORY [336 b.c. to 

by Antiochus Soter, the son of Antigonus. Although he had 
conquered the Celtic hordes who had settled in Galatia, and 
were now subject to Nicomedes of Bithynia, he had himself 
been defeated at Sardis by Eumenes, king of Peigamum. He 
also had to surrender Phoenicia and Coele-Syria to the Ptolemies 
of Egypt. His successor, Antiochus Theos, lost still more terri- 
tory both on the west and on the east, and Seleucus II., who bore 
the inappropriate name of Kallinicus, after the third Syrian war, 
had to sacrifice Syria and Palestine, and in the civil war with 
his brother Antiochus Hierax, who was supported by Egypt, 
what remained to him of Asia Minor. The glory of the Seleucid 
kingdom was restored by Antiochus III., who was 
Uie^Great i ustl y cailed tue Great ; he won back much that 
had been lost, and made expeditions, which, how- 
ever, had no permanent effect, against Parthia, Bactria, and 
India. He also, eventually, came into conflict with the Romans. 
The kingdom of Egypt, founded in 322 by Ptolemy I., Soter, 
included Cyrene, Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus. He 
ipjjg reigned admirably for forty years. He made 

Ptolemies Alexandria the seat, not only of a world-wide 
in Egypt. commerce, but of a universal Hellenistic culture. 
His court was the home of all the poets and men of learning 
of his age. He founded the famous Museum, the world-known 
Alexandrian library of 400,000 books, which was afterwards 
entirely destroyed by the Moslem conquest. There was a 
second library of 300,000 volumes in the Serapeum. Egypt 
was covered by 30,000 towns, defended by an army of 400,000 
men and a fleet of more than 3000 vessels, and supported by 
a treasure of nearly five millions of our money. His work 
was continued by his son and successor, Ptolemy II., Philadelphus 
(285-246), with even more magnificence. He built the har- 
bour of Myos-kormos and dug out the Nile Canal, but he was 
too much given to extravagance and sensuality, which has 
been the curse of Egypt to our own day. His son, Ptolemy III., 
Euergetes (246-221), was a more energetic character, and suc- 
ceeded in dealing a fatal blow to the Seleucid kingdom, which, 
however, he was not able to govern. He extended the dominion 
of Egypt to the shores of the Nile. With him ends the period 
of the (iolden Century, a name which is given to the reigns 
of the first three Ptolemies. Under his successors, the country, 
ruined by the extravagance and licentiousness of its kings 
and nobles, lost one province after another, and eventually 
became a part of the Roman empire. 



213 B.c.1 ALEXANDER THE GREAT i?9 

We must not omit all mention of other portions of Alex- 
ander's empire. Some separate kingdoms in Asia became 
important. Bithynia, with its capital Nicomedia ; 
Pontus, governed by the Persian dynasty of states 
the Mithradates, which, under Mithradates "VI. , 
fell into the power of the Romans ; Cappadocia, under the 
dominion of Ariarathes, controlled by the Magi ; Pergamum, 
under Attalus and Eumenes, well known for its great wealth 
and the encouragement of learned men, and for having given 
its name to parchment ; Armenia ; Parthia, the home of 
the powerful Arsacidae, who made their kingdom into an 
empire until it was destroyed by the Romans ; and Bactria 
and Atropatene. 

Palestine deserves more attention. Judaea, which had fallen 
to Egypt in the struggle between the founders of the Syrian 
and Egyptian kingdoms, was a perpetual bone 
of contention between the Ptolemies and the a 
Seleucidae. However, its religion and its constitution were 
respected by both parties, and all internal affairs were governed 
by the seventy members of the Sanhedrin. Both the con- 
flicting powers invited many Jews into their countries, and 
gave them many privileges and favours. A special school 
of Jews grew up in Alexandria, whose teaching consisted in 
a mixture of biblical and heathen erudition. As Greek culture 
began to penetrate into Judaea, it was naturally regarded 
in a different light by the two parties of the Pharisees and 
the Sadducees, the first conservative, the second liberal. Ptolemy 
Philadelphia provided for the translation of the Hebrew Old 
Testament into Greek, which was called the Septuagint, be- 
cause the translation was made by seventy Jewish scholars. 
Antiochus the Great treated the Jews with great consideration, 
which perhaps made them too lax in their observances, and 
more inclined to adopt the customs of the Hellenes ; but 
Antiochus Epiphanes, wishing to introduce uniformity of 
religion into his dominions, marched against Jerusalem, plun- 
dered the temple, and gave orders for the entire destruction 
of the Jewish religion. He compelled them to worship the 
Greek gods, and those who neglected this were punished with 
death. While this persecution was going on, the 
family of the Maccabees, consisting of Mattathias .L . 
and nis nve noble sons, who lived in the moun- 
tains of Modin, between Joppa and Jerusalem, determined 
to resist. One of them, Judas Makkab, the Hammer, a name 



i8o A GENERAL HISTORY [336-213 b.c. 

given to him for his bravery, defeated the Syrians, restored 
the Jewish worship, and compelled the Syrians to make peace. 
But, when the Syrians began a new oppression, he conceived 
the unhappy idea of invoking the assistance of the Romans, 
and thus the affairs of this portion also of Alexander's empire 
were involved in the politics of Rome. 



CHAPTER XT. 

EOME THE MISTRESS OF THE WORLD, 214-44 B.C. 

We have seen how Rome gradually made herself mistress of 
Italy, and then, in two Punic wars, destroyed the rival power 
of Carthage. The inevitable impulse towards 
expansion which affects all empires while they Z'i? m ^ a ? 

4-1 A A A l, 4. 4- A the EaSt - 

are on the upward grade, now drove her to extend 
her conquests towards the east, and brought her into connection 
with that world the condition of which we have been describing 
in our last chapter. The first Macedonian war First and 
(214-204) took place immediately after the dis- Second 
aster of Cannae, and was waged with Philip III. of Macedonian 
Macedon, who made an alliance with Hannibal. Wars. 
The war came to an end because the Romans desired to con- 
centrate their whole attention on the defeat of Carthage. 
Philip surrendered some portions of Illyrian territory to Rome, 
but remained in possession of Thessaly, Euboea, and Acro- 
corinthus, promising to respect the friends and allies of 
Rome, in which the Italians were not included. He, how- 
ever, continued to assist the Carthaginians, and some of his 
troops fought against Scipio at the battle of Zama, so that, 
when her hands were free, Rome began the second Mace- 
donian war in 200 B.C., being incited to do so by the enemies 
of Philip in Pergamum, Rhodes, Athens, and Epirus. Her 
efforts against him were at first unsuccessful, but at last Titus 
Quinctius Flamininus, a brave and able general of the school 
of Marcellus, stormed the passes of Epirus and occupied a 
portion of Greece. He then made an alliance with the Achaean 
League, which had been reorganised under Philopoemen, and in 
197 defeated Philip in the battle of Cynoscephale, Battle of 
in Thessaly. Philip had to surrender all his Cynosce- 
possessions outside Macedonia, to deliver up phale. 
his fleet with the exception of five ships, to reduce his army 
to five thousand men, to pay a war indemnity of a thousand 
talents, and to promise to undertake no war without the leave 



182 A GENERAL HISTORY [2U b.c. to 

of the Romans. He was also compelled to send his son Deme- 
trius as a hostage to Rome. The Greeks were able now to 
celebrate in safety the Isthmian games, which had been pre- 
vented by the Macedonian occupation. Flamininus also assisted 
the Achaean League against their enemy Nabis, tyrant of Sparta, 
from whom they took Argos and some possessions in Laconia 
and Crete. Nabis, however, was craftily left in power to act 
as a counterpoise to the Achaean League. 

The Romans now turned their arms against Antiochus the 
Great, king of Syria. He had been in alliance with Philip, 
had assisted Hannibal and received him when he 
S r^a W1 was cu 'i ven ou ^ °f Africa by the Romans, and had 
in 191 begun the so called Syrian war by attack- 
ing Rhodes and Pergamum, the allies of Rome, and making an 
expedition against Greece with the assistance of the Aetolians. 
He was, however, defeated by Glabrio and his lieutenant Marcus 
Porcius Cato, in the battle of Thermopylae, and also worsted at 
sea, so that he was compelled to return to Asia. Lucius Scipio, 
with his brother Scipio Africanus as lieutenant, was sent to 
attack him in his own country, and, in 189, de- 
Bat e o feated him entirely in the battle of Magnesia on 
Mount Sipylus, and reduced him to subjection in 
the same way in which Rome had treated the king of Macedonia. 
He was obliged to surrender Asia Minor from the mountains of 
Taurus to the Halys, to give up his fleet, to pay 15,000 talents, 
(over £3,000,000) to Rome, and 400 to Eumenes, and to send his 
son Antiochus to Rome as a hostage. The Aetolians, who had 
assisted him, were sentenced to pay 500 talents, and to deliver up 
statues and other works of art. 

The Romans, with a shameful want of generosity, required 

Antiochus to surrender their noble enemy Hannibal, now seventy 

Deaths of years of age, whom they ought to have treated 

Hannibal with the greatest honour. He sought refuge with 

and Scipio. Pmsias, king of Bithynia, and, when the Romans 

again insisted upon his surrender, he took poison, which he 

had for a long time carried about with him for that purpose. 

Other important deaths occurred in this year 183. Publius 
Scipio Africanus died, banished to his country house of Linternum 
by the attacks of his enemies, of whom Marcus Porcius Cato was 
the chief. He was, indeed, acquitted in the law courts, but his 
brother, Lucius Scipio, had to pay a large fine which entirely 
ruined him. Philopoemen also died, the last competent head 
of the Achaean League. He also was compelled to poison him- 



44 b.c.] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 183 

self. The restless Aetolians, who had again rebelled against 
Rome, were at last subdued by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior. 

The third Macedonian war now ensued, and lasted from 
171 to 168. Philip III., also called V., of Macedon had assisted 
the Romans in their struggle against Antiochus, 
but, disgusted with his want of recognition, and donianWar 
jealous of the favours which had been acceded to 
Eumenes and the Rhodians, made war against them. His 
younger son, Demetrius, who had lived for some time at 
Rome as a hostage, was well disposed to the Romans, and was 
a friend of Flamininus. Hence Perseus, his wild and untame- 
able illegitimate brother, poisoned him, in 181, breaking his 
father's heart. Two years later Philip died. Perseus succeeded 
and proved a good sovereign, but his efforts for the aggrandise- 
ment of his country and the independence of Greece naturally 
excited the enmity of Rome, and war was declared. Itwas brought 
to an end in 168 by the victory of Lucius Aemilius 
Paulus, whose father had fallen at Cannae, in the p a d e ° 
battle of Pydna. Perseus was captured, carried 
in triumph through the city, and imprisoned in Alba, where 
he died. Macedonia did not, however, become a Roman pro- 
vince until 148. 

The year 146 is always regarded as the end of Grecian liberty. 
When the Achaean League, which had received a certain re- 
cognition from Rome, began to exert itself to 

obtain greater independence, Metellus was sent Subjection 

. of Greece, 

to suppress it, and defeated Critolaus, the general 

of the league, at Scarphea in Locris. But the real blow was 
dealt by the Consul , Lucius Mummius, who stormed and de- 
stroyed the rich and noble Corinth, and declared Greece to be a 
portion of the newly created province of Macedonia under the 
name of Achaia. It did not become a separate province until 
the time of Augustus. Corinth, so long the chosen seat of 
culture and art, was treated with revolting barbarity, although 

Mummius is said to have been a man of mild and gentle Char- 
ts 

acter, and was certainly very dull and stupid. He said that, 
if any works of art were destroyed, they must be replaced. 
The male inhabitants were killed, the women and children sold 
into slavery, the town plundered and burned. The priceless 
pictures and statues were carried off to Rome. The defeat of 
Perseus at Pydna in 168 decided the supremacy of Rome over 
the East. Epirus and Illyria fell into the hands of the Romans. 
In the first named country, seventy towns were destroyed in 



184 A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.c. to 

one clay, and 150,000 of the inhabitants sold into slavery. 
Thousands of Achaean hostages, amongst whom was the his- 
torian Polybius, were carried off to Rome, and Antiochus 
Epiphanes, king of Syria, was compelled to desist from his 
conquests and to surrender Palestine to the heroic Maccabees. 
Even the faithful Eumenes of Pergamum, and Rhodes, its old 
ally, were compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome. 

The same year (146) saw the final destruction of Carthage. 

Since the conclusion of the second Punic war, Carthage had 

recovered a large portion of its prosperity, although 

i ir . ~ it was continually harassed by Massinissa, who 

was an ally of Rome. Cato the censor, a strong 
but narrow-minded man, was continually urging his country- 
men to its destruction, and concluded every speech he made 
with the statement that he was of opinion that Carthage 
ought to be destroyed. At last, on a paltry pretext, Rome 
declared war against the doomed city. Carthage did her 
utmost to avoid the fate which threatened her. She sent 
three hundred hostages to Rome, and received a promise that 
her territory should be respected, but unfortunately no men- 
tion was made of the city itself. "When the Roman army 
landed in Africa in 149, the Carthaginians were first required 
to deliver up their arms and to burn their ships of war, 
upon which they surrendered 200,000 stand of arms and 
2000 war catapults. They were then ordered to leave the 
town and to build one at some distance from the sea, as 
Carthage was to be destroyed. This reduced them to a con- 
dition of despair, and they determined to defend themselves 
to the last. They turned all their theatres and public buildings 
into workshops for the making of arms, and the women gave 
up their hair to make bow strings. The city at this time 
had a population of 700,000. The defence was undertaken 
by two Hasdrubals, one of them a brother of Massinissa. 
For two years the city held out against all attacks, notwith- 
standing the treacherous disarmament, which had weakened 
it from the first. At last Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, 
the son of the conqueror of Pydna, and the adopted grandson 
of the great Scipio, succeeded in cutting through the isthmus 
on which the town was built, thus preventing all communica- 
tion with the interior, and in shutting up the harbour by 
a dam, and at last, after a struggle of four years, Carthage 
was destroyed. We need not dwell upon the horrors which 
accompanied the victory. The whole story is a disgrace to 



44 b.c.] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 1 85 

the Roman character, and the recital of these crimes, from 
which no nation has been free, makes us sometimes doubt 
whether the rules of right and wrong have an operation in 
public affairs, and whether there is a God in heaven who 
exacts punishment for crime. The territory of Carthage was 
now formed into the Roman province of Africa, with Utica 
as its capital. 

At the same time the Romans became masters of Spain. 
The Oeltiberi in Northern Spain had been defeated by Marcus 
Porcius Oato in 195, and conquered by Tiberius . 

Sempronius Gracchus in 179. Across the Ebro q^^I^ 11 
the Lusitanians offered a vigorous resistance, 
at last, under the noble Viriathus ; but he was treacherously 
murdered by the device of the Roman consul, Quintus Ser- 
vilius Oaepio, in 140. A war ensued called the Numantine 
war, which lasted till 133, when the Lusitanians submitted. 
Numantia, on the upper waters of the Douro, held out against 
a siege of fifteen months, during which the inhabitants suffered 
from a famine which has become proverbial. It was at 
last taken and destroyed by Scipio, who received the name 
of Numantinus. The whole of the Spanish peninsula now 
became a Roman province. A piece of good fortune befell 
Rome in this very year by Attalus III., king of Pergamum, 
making the Romans heirs to his enormous fortune and to 
his large territory, which included nearly the whole of Asia 
Minor, so that they were now able to establish a province 
of Asia. The power of the republic was also p rov inces of 
extended in Gaul by the founding of Narbo Martius Asia and 
(Narbonne) and Aquae Sextia (Aix) in 122, Southern 
and by new conquests which enabled it to form Gaul. 
Southern Gaul into a province which was afterwards known 
as the " province " par excellence, and to-day bears the name 
of Provence. The Arverni were received as allies, but the 
Allobroges were subdued. Further successes were also gained 
over the Oarnians, the Istrians, and the Dalmatians. Thus, 
at the close of the second century before Christ, most of 
the countries which surrounded the Mediterranean Sea acknow- 
ledged the authority of Rome. Her empire included Sicily, 
Spain, Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Carthage. 

By these rapid advances, the conditions of Roman life had 
been entirely changed. The Romans, formerly exclusively 
occupied in war, agriculture, and the duties of government, 
began to receive a tinere of Greek culture, a movement en- 



i86 A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.o. to 

couraged by the greatest Romans — the two Scipios, Flaminius, 
and Aemilius Paulus. A great effect was produced by three 
Rome and thousand Achaean hostages, whose arrival in 
Greek Rome has been already related, amongst whom 

Culture. were sophists, rhetoricians, philosophers, and 

historians. One of them, as we have said, was the historian 
Polybius, the friend of Scipio, who wrote the history of the 
three Punic wars in Greek. The play writers Plautus and 
Terence began to imitate Greek models, while the plundering 
of Syracuse and Corinth enriched the capital with many of 
the best examples of Greek art. At the same time, the rapid 
increase of Avealth, accompanied by the introduction of an 
extravagant and corrupting luxury, did much to impair the 
strength and simplicity of the Roman character. This also 
led to a conflict between the aristocratic and the democratic 
parties, the Optimates and the Populares, the 
Economic ^^ an( j ^ e poor, as, according to the operations 
of unequal economic laws, the rich became more 
wealthy and the needy poorer. The nobles, composed partly of 
patricians, partly of rich plebeians, arrogated to themselves 
all the highest offices, and the lucrative government of the 
provinces. They also purchased, with their newly acquired 
wealth, huge estates, known as latifundia, which were culti- 
vated, not by free labourers, but by slaves. At the same time, 
the poor citizens thronged to the towns, and swelled the numbers 
of those who were in want. 

The two Gracchi set themselves to remedy this disastrous state 
of things, and to establish, between the very rich and the very 
Reforms of P°o r > a sound and healthy middle class. One of 
Tiberius the first steps necessary was to secure a fairer 
Gracchus. division of the public property, the ager publicus, 
which was now in the exclusive possession of the rich. The 
mother of the two Gracchi was Cornelia, the daughter of the 
elder Scipio Africanus, and the elder, Tiberius, when he became 
tribune of the plebs, endeavoured to follow Scipio's lead by re- 
establishing the old arrangement of the Licinian Laws by which 
no citizen might hold more than five hundred acres for himself, 
and two hundred and fifty for a grown-up son, or more than a 
thousand acres in all, while all the rest was to be divided in 
small allotments amongst the poorer citizens. 

The aims of Tiberius Gracchus were in every way admirable, 
but the means which he adopted were illegal. In order to 
carry his proposals through, he obtained the deposition of his 



44 b.c.] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 187 

colleague, Octavius, who was opposed to his views, by a decree 
of the people, thus undermining one of the fundamental safe- 
guards of the Roman constitution, the inviola- Violence 
bility of the tribunes. His scheme having been and Death 
carried, a committee of three was appointed to of Tiberius, 
carry it out, consisting of himself, his brother Gaius, and 
his father-in-law, Appius Claudius. The Optimates naturally 
did their best to prevent his being elected tribune for the 
following year. When he attempted to secure the prolongation 
of his office by force, he was attacked by a crowd of ruffians 
hired by the aristocracy, and was killed at the foot of the 
Capitol, together with three hundred of his friends. Ten years 
later his plans were revived by his brother, 
Gaius Gracchus, with the addition of a scheme Gracchus 
for founding colonies both in Italy and beyond, 
in which Roman citizens might be settled. Gaius also had a 
Corn Law passed, which provided a supply of grain from the 
state to the poorer classes at a lower price. He also made a 
change in the judicial arrangements, by which the judges in 
the standing courts were to be drawn from the equites instead 
of from the senators. Having thus won the support of the 
equites, he brought forward a bill to give the rights of citizen- 
ship to all the Italian allies. This was rejected by the people, 
and his popularity suffered a still more severe blow by the 
Tribune Livius Drusus going over to the side of the Optimates. 
Gracchus now went to Africa with the object of founding a 
colony at Carthage, and, in his absence, Drusus endeavoured to 
outbid him in the production of popular proposals, with the 
effect that Gracchus was not elected tribune on his return. 
The result of this was a serious battle between the Optimates, 
led by the Consul Opimius, and the popular party, in which 
Gracchus with three thousand of his adherents perished. In 
this way the endeavours of the Gracchi to establish a middle 
class entirely failed. The result of the whole conflict was to 
strengthen for the time the power of the Optimates and to 
encourage them to new efforts of overbearing violence. 

After the death of Massinissa, his son Micipsa became king 
of Numidia, a country which extended from Mauretania, the 
modern Morocco, to the great Syrtis, which lies 
between Tripoli and Cyrenaica. Micipsa had in- ^^J 1 ' 
tended that after his death his country should be 
divided between his two sons, Hiempsal and Adherbal, and his 
nephew Jugurtha. Jugurtha, however, was an ambitious and 



i88 A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.c. to 

unscrupulous man, who desired to obtain the whole country for 
himself. He therefore killed first Hiempsal and then Adherbal, 
and, when he was called upon by the Roman Senate to answer 
for his conduct, he contrived to purchase their connivance with 
the judicious use of money. Memmius, who was tribune of the 
plebs, brought this scandal into public notice, and an army was 
despatched to Africa, commanded by the consul Lucius Cal- 
purnius Bestia. Bestia, however, was himself not proof against 
corruption, and, in the year 111, allowed Jugurtha to purchase 
peace. Memmius insisted upon Jugurtha being summoned to 
Rome, but his wealth would probably again have secured him 
immunity from punishment had he not murdered his nephew 
Massiva almost under the eyes of the Senate. He was promptly 
banished, and another army was sent to Africa, but the corrup- 
tion and incapacity of the Roman generals was so great that 
the Roman army, after having been lured into the desert, was 
obliged to pass under the yoke. At last a competent general 
was found in Metellus, who, in 109, defeated Jugurtha in the 
battle of the Mulucha. After this, the war continued for some 
time, and Jugurtha was driven from Numidia, but he had re- 
course to the wild Gaetulian tribes in the south, and stirred up 
Bocchus, king of Mauretania, whose daughter he had married, 
to help him in a national war against Rome. 

There was serving as a lieutenant at this time in the army 
of Metellus, a plebeian, Gaius Marius, the son of a peasant. 

He was born at Arpinum, where the Cistercian 

monastery of Oasa Mari, the house of Marius, 
preserves the memory of his name and the site of his father's 
farm. He had, some years before, attracted the attention of 
Scipio Aemilianus in the Numantine war. His was a strong but 
rough nature : he was a thorough soldier, an ardent democrat, 
full of indignation at the corruption of the aristocracy. He sur- 
prised Metellus with a request that he might be allowed to go 
to Rome to stand for the consulship, and Metellus did not dare 
to refuse. He was, at this time, forty-eight years old. When 
he arrived at Rome, he attacked Metellus, and said that, with 
only half his army, he would, in a short time, have Jugurtha in 
his power, and that the aristocratic generals allowed the war to 

drag on that they might prolong their commands. 
His fil - s * He boasted that he had no images or triumphs 

of consular ancestors to exhibit, that his creden- 
tials were his lance and his sword, and the scars on his 
breast — those were his images, those his ancestors, not inherited 



44 b.c.] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 189 

from others, but won by himself. He succeeded in his object, 
and was not only elected consul, but entrusted with the African 
command, and crowds of his democratic supporters flocked to his 
standard. He did away with the old Servian classes, and founded 
a new model army of a thoroughly popular character, in which 
wealth had no privilege. He kept a strict discipline, but was 
adored by his men. 

Proceeding to Africa in 107, he entirely defeated Jugurtha 
and Bocchus in the battle of Oirta, the modern Constantine. 
But the honour of his victory had to be shared with Lucius 
Cornelius Sulla, who had recently joined his army as quaestor. 
Sulla was a man of noble birth, well educated, 
and of great ability, but corrupted by sensual in- 
dulgence. He was energetic and generous, and, notwithstanding 
his noble origin, knew how to make himself beloved by his troops. 
He was extremely ambitious, and, notwithstanding his self-in- 
dulgent habits, never spared himself in the labours of the field. 
He was aware that Bocchus was not averse to making peace 
with the Romans, and he persuaded him to betray his son-in- 
law. Jugurtha was treacherously captured, and the Jugurthan 
war, which had lasted for seven years, came to an end. On 
January 1, 104, the day on which Marius entered Marius' 
upon his second consulship, he rode in triumph Second 
to the Capitol. Jugurtha, with his two sons, Consulship, 
walked in chains before his conqueror's chariot. Then he was 
carried off into the ghastly prison of the Tullianum. " This is a 
cold bath chamber ! " he said. For six days of a Roman winter, 
his sturdy frame held out against cold and hunger, till he was 
at last mercifully stifled. Bocchus received part of Numidia as 
the reward of his treachery, the rest of the country being given 
to Jugurtha's half-brother, Gauda. The Gaetulians entered 
into the position of allies. The close of the war left Sulla and 
Marius rivals and enemies — the one was a " novus homo," the 
representative of the democracy, the other the champion of the 
Optimates. 

Marius was now to gain new laurels in a more dangerous 
conflict. In the year 113, the Cimbri, apparently of German, not 
of Celtic origin, impelled by one of those forces 
which, as has been before explained, broke out from „ . 
time to time from the human volcano of central 
Asia, attacked the Roman province of Noricum, the modern 
Styria. They defeated at Noreja the Consul Papirius Carbo, 
who was sent against them, and, in their victorious progress 



KjO A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.c. to 

through Gaul and Switzerland, destroyed four Roman armies. 
The worst of these defeats was suffered by Gnaeus Servilius 
Oaepio on the Rhone in 105, a battle in which 80,000 Romans 
were slain. The Cimbri now crossed the Pyrenees, and plundered 
Spain, but were driven back by the Celtiberians into Gaul. 
Here they joined another German tribe, the Teutones, and then 
threatened Italy, the Teutones taking the road of the coast, 
the Cimbri of the Eastern Alps. The Romans, thoroughly 
frightened, summoned Marius to their aid. The 
e ea e y war con -tinu.ed for five years, during which time 
Marius was re-elected consul without a break. 
He took great pains with the discipline of his army, and estab- 
lished a fixed camp at the spot where the Isere flows into the 
Rhone, gradually accustoming his soldiers to the sight of the 
wild barbarians with whom they had to contend, and at last, 
in 102, completely defeated the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae, the 
modern Aix. The Cimbri had by now penetrated into Italy, 
and driven the consul, Lutatius Catulus, across the Po. Marius 
hastened to his assistance, and together they routed the Cimbri 
in the Raudian plains, in the neighbourhood of Yercelli. 

This danger, so happily averted, did not prevent Rome from 
being agitated by internal troubles. The democratic party 
Riot and found new leaders in Apuleius Saturninus, tribune 

Disorder in of the plebs, and the praetor Servilius Glaucia, 
Rome. who had won the favour of the people by distri- 

butions among them of corn and public land. One of their 
objects was to diminish the authority of the Senate, the strong- 
hold of the power of the Optimates. Glaucia became a candi- 
date for the consulship in 98, being opposed by Gaius Memmius, 
but the supporters of Memmius were driven violently out of 
the Forum by the mob of Glaucia and Saturninus, armed with 
clubs. Marius was ordered by the Senate to put down this riot, 
and he could not disobey, although Saturninus, the leader of the 
rioters, had been his friend. Both Glaucia and Saturninus per- 
ished in the conflict. This increased the power of Sulla, who 
was soon to gain greater distinction in the war with the Allies. 
The Social or Marsian war, which lasted from 91 to 88, was 
caused by the fact that a number of Sabellian tribes — the 
Peligni, Marsi, Samnites, Apulians, and Lucanians 
War ° Cia — ^ ac ^ taken their full share in the victorious wars 
of Rome which we have described, but had not 
been rewarded with either the rights of Roman citizens or a 
share of the public lands. Gaius Gracchus, as we know, had 



44B.C.1 ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 191 

attempted to remedy this case, and in 91 the tribune Marcus 
Livius Drusus followed in his steps. He was, however, victori- 
ously opposed by the Senate, and was murdered at the entrance 
to his own house as he was returning from a public meeting. 
The Allies took up arms, and determined to found a new state 
in opposition to Rome. They chose as their capital Corfinium, 
situated in the mountainous country between the two seas, an 
example which was followed with equal unsuccess by the 
Emperor Frederick II. many centuries later. The Marsi were 
led by Pompaedius Silo, and the Samnites by Pontius Telesinus, 
the Romans by Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo and Lucius Cornelius 
Sulla. But peace could not be made until the demands of the 
Allies had been conceded, and the rights of citizenship had been 
given to all who dwelt from the Macra and Rubicon to the 
farthest extremity of Italy. In 89, the Consul Lucius Julius 
Caesar carried a proposal that the Latins who had remained 
loyal should have the citizenship, but in the following year 
the tribunes Plautius Silvanus and Papirius Carbo extended 
the privilege to all Italian towns who should ask for it within 
the space of sixty days, and by this the war was brought to an 
end. 

Immediately after this, the powerful Mithradates VI., king 
of Pontus, whose dominions extended from Paphlagonia to 
Colchis, who possessed the Euxine and had the 
whole of Armenia as his ally, made an incursion f -BWraaa.- 
into the Roman provinces lying to the west of 
his empire. He had, indeed, gained possession of Bithynia 
and Cappadocia, and there was a danger that the whole of Asia 
Minor might fall into his hands. The corrupt and covetous 
behaviour of the Roman proconsuls had made their rule detested, 
and, in 88, at the instigation of the Pontine king, eighty 
thousand Romans were massacred in Asia Minor on the same 
day. The Romans declared war, and the Senate gave the charge 
of it to the Consul Sulla ; but, on the proposition of the tribune 
Publius Sulpicius Rufus, the popular assembly deprived him of 
it, and transferred it to Marius. Upon this, Sulla marched 
with his army from Nola to Rome, and Marius had to flee for 
bis life. After numerous adventures, he was Marius 
captured in the marshes at the mouth of the driven from 
Liris, and taken to Minturnae. From this he Rome, 
fled to Africa, and took refuge, according to a commonplace of 
history, in the ruins of Carthage. Sulla now had a free hand 
in Rome. He divided the consulship between Gnaeus Octavius, 



TQ2 A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.c. to 

an Optiniate, and Cinna, a democrat, and then set out to meet 
Mithradates, who, having subdued Asia Minor, had attacked 
Greece. He took Athens by storm, defeated in 
Sulla" S ° * wo Sliccess i ve years Archelaus, the general of 
Mithradates, first at Chaeronae and then at Orcho- 
menos, and finally passed over to Asia Minor. Meanwhile, the 
popular party in Rome, determined not to be beaten, sent an 
army to Asia Minor, under their consul Flaccus, who was, 
however, murdered by the traitor Fimbria. When Sulla arrived, 
Fimbria's army passed over to Sulla, and Fimbria had no other 
resource than to kill himself. Sulla then, in the year 84, 
defeated Mithradates, compelled him to surrender all his con- 
quests in Asia Minor, and his whole war navy, and to pay an 
indemnity of about half a million, which, from his enormous 
wealth, he was easily able to do. This was followed by a so- 
called Second Mithradatic war (83 to 81), in which Sulla's 
lieutenant, Murena, foolishly invading Pontus, was defeated by 
Mithradates on the Halys. It was after this that the victorious 
king conquered the Crimea and established his capital at 
Panticapaeum, the modern Kertch. The treasure of Kertch, 
preserved in the museum at St. Petersburg, gives startling 
evidence of the magnificence of the Pontic sovereign and of 
the exquisite art which flourished in his dominions. 

During the absence of Sulla from Rome, the democratic 
consul, Cinna, had procured the adoption of many liberal laws, 
and amongst them one which provided for the 
Cinna s reception of the new citizens into all the thirty- 

five tribes, and their being placed on an equality 
with the old citizens. The result of this was that the new 
citizens crowded into Rome to vote, and increased the power of 
the democratic party. Octavius and the Optimates could not 
suffer this, so they took up arms against Cinna and drove him 
from Rome. He, however, collected an army and forced his 
Deaths of wa }' Dac k into the city, being assisted by Marius, 
Marius who had been recalled from banishment. For 

and Cinna. five days there was fighting in Rome between the 
two parties, with the loss of many lives. In 86, Marius was 
elected consul for the seventh time, but died immediately after- 
wards, and Cinna, after having procured his election as consul 
four times in succession, was murdered by his own soldiers at 
Ancona, just as he was about to attack the victorious Sulla in 
Greece. Sulla, having finished the Mithradatic war, marched 
to Rome, having to fight his way through a number of Marian 



44 b.c.] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 193 

soldiers, who were assisted by the Samnites. The most serious 
battle took place at the Colline Gate, in which 4000 Samnites 
were taken prisoner, and three days later were 
slaughtered in the Campus Martius, together with s]] Urn 
their leader, Pontius Telesinus. Sulla was now 
master of Italy. The remains of the Marian party in Sicily and 
Africa were subdued by the young Gnaeus Pompeius, generally 
known as Pompey the Great, who, on Sulla's return, had collected 
an army of three legions for his support at his own expense. 

Sulla now set himself to work entirely to destroy the popular 
party, and to secure the rule of the Optimates. He established 
a reign of terror by drawing up a list of proscrip- 
tions, containing the names of citizens who were ~ u r 1? 1C " 

°, t -, r. tatorsnip. 

to be put to death and their property confiscated. 

He was created perpetual dictator, which, as has been before 
explained, had nothing to do with the old dictatorship, but gave 
him further power to remodel the constitution. He re-established 
the power of the Senate, the numbers of which were increased ; 
diminished that of the tribunes by enacting that no one 
who had been tribune could be afterwards elected to any 
higher office ; took away from the Comitia Tributa and the 
Concilia Plebis the power of initiating laws, which remained 
solely with the Comitia Centuriata ; and increased the number 
of standing tribunals from four to eight. He gave the right of 
serving as judices back to the Senate, and made the office of 
senators to last for life, taking away from the censors the 
power of removing them. He attempted to destroy the demo- 
cratic feeling of the provinces by placing 120,000 of his veterans 
in military colonies. He liberated 10,000 slaves who were 
devoted to his interests, and made them citizens. They were 
called Cornelians, and formed his bodyguard in Rome. Having 
thus, as he thought, established the constitution of Rome on 
its old aristocratic footing, and having given himself the title 
of Felix in 79, he laid down his office of dictator of his own 
accord, having held it for two years, and retired to Pozzuoli, 
where he died in the following year. 

After Sulla's death, Pompeius, who had already received the 
title of Great (Magnus), became the leader of the party of the 
Optimates. In order to complete the work of 
destroying the Marian party, he was sent to Exploits of 
Spain, where a formidable rising had taken place 
under Sertorius. The struggle continued in the mountains of 
the peninsula for seven years (79-72), until Sertorius suffered 

N 



194 A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.c. to 

a not uncommon fate by being treacherously murdered by his 
lieutenant, Perpenna. When this was over, Pompeius had to 
suppress a rising of slaves and gladiators under Spartacus. 
This man, a Thracian gladiator, had escaped from his training 
school at Capua, and collected an army of 100,000 slaves and 
gladiators with the idea of throwing off the yoke of the Roman 
government. He defeated the first four armies which were 
sent against him, but was at last conquered by Licinius Crassus 
at the river Silarus, where he lost his life. Pompeius on his 
return from Spain fell in with a body of 5000 slaves who had 
escaped the slaughter, and were marching towards Gaul. He 
entirely destroyed them, and got the glory of having put an end 
Consulship to the war. In the following year, Pompeius and 
of Pompey Crassus were elected consuls, and attempted to 
and Crassus. make terms with the democratic party, although 
they continued to be the leaders of the aristocrats. They restored 
the power of the tribunes on its old footing, and settled the 
vexed question of the judges by dividing them between the 
Senate, the equites, and what were called the Aerarian Tribunes, 
who represented the popular party. They restored to the 
censors their former power over the Senate, and in other ways 
mitigated the stringency of the Sullan constitution. Pompeius 
ingratiated himself so much with the democratic party by these 
measures that he found himself elected as general, first against 
the pirates, and then in the next year against Mithradates, 
each time on the proposal of a tribune, who did not seem afraid 
of placing these large powers in his hands. 

The Mediterranean was at this time infested with pirates, as 
it has been almost up to our own day, especially after the 
Pompey destruction of Carthage put an end to the police 

suppresses of the seas. Their chief seats were Cilicia and 
the Pirates. Crete : they harassed the coasts of Italy and 
Spain, interfered with the supply of corn to Rome, and even 
dared to destroy a Roman fleet in the harbour of Ostia. In 67, 
the praetor, Caecilius Metellus, had taken possession of Crete, 
for which he received the title of Creticus. But their ravages 
still continued ; like the Barbary pirates of recent times, they 
captured distinguished persons and held them to ransom, Julius 
Caesar himself having suffered this fate in his youth. But with 
the attack upon Ostia, the cup of Rome's indignation was full. 
In 67, Pompeius got together a large fleet of 500 ships of war, 
120,000 infantry, and 5000 cavalry, and in three months cleared 
the seas of pirates, and defeated the Cilician fleet at the pro- 



44 b.c] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 195 

montory of Coracesium. Ten thousand of them were killed, 
20,000 taken prisoner, 1000 of their ships were burned, and 120 
of their castles captured, in Isauria, Pamphylia, and Cilicia. 
Merchants could now traverse the Mediterranean in safety. 

Pompeius next turned his attention to Mithradates, in the 
Third Mithradatic war, which lasted for ten years (74-64). It 
had begun in 74, by Mithradates attacking the Third 
province of Bithynia, which had been bequeathed Mithradatic 
to the Romans by its king, Nicomecles. He War. 
defeated the Consul Aurelius Cotta at Calchedon, and besieged 
Cyzicus. Licinius Lucullus, a Roman general of 
the highest distinction, whose talents should have ■, uculhis S ° 
obtained for him a more prominent name in 
history, was sent against him. He defeated Mithradates in 72, 
at Cabira, in the neighbourhood of the Halys, and compelled 
him to take refuge with his father-indaw, Tigranes, king of 
Armenia. When Tigranes refused to deliver him up, Lucullus 
crossed the Euphrates and the Tigris, and defeated both kings 
at Tigranocerta in 69, and at Artaxata in 68. He was pre- 
vented from going farther by a mutiny of his soldiers, and was 
recalled to Rome by the Senate, it is supposed by the intrigues 
of the tax-gatherers, to whose dishonesty Lucullus was violently 
opposed. Thus, in 67, the conclusion of the Mithradatic war 
was committed to the hands of Pompeius. He succeeded in 
defeating Mithradates on the river Lycus, at the place where 
the city of Nicopolis was afterwards founded, and compelling 
him to take refuge in his recently acquired country of the 
Crimea. 

Pompeius, justifying his appellation of the " Great," did 
much more than had been expected of him, and put the affairs 
of the East on something like a basis of per- p mpey's 
manent security. After conquering Tigranes in Settlement 
Armenia, he marched by way of the Caucasus to of the East. 
Asia Minor, made Pontus a Roman province, as well as Syria 
and Cilicia, and placed Galatia and Cappadocia in the position 
of protected states. He settled the affairs of Palestine, making 
Hyrcanus, of the house of the Maccabees, king under the suze- 
rainty of Rome and liable to tribute. Here he heard that 
Mithradates, betrayed by his son Pharnaces, had killed himself 
in Kertch, upon which Pharnaces was made king of the Crimea, 
and recognised as a friend and ally of the Roman people. 
When Pompeius had thus arranged the affairs of Asia, he 
returned, with a huge amount of plunder, by way of Ephesus, 



196 A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.c. to 

Athens, and Brundisinm to Rome, where he celebrated a triple 
triumph for his victories in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It was 
said that he had subdued sixteen countries, a thousand for- 
tresses, and nine hundred cities. 

During the absence of Pompeius from Italy the conspiracy of 
Catiline took place at Rome in the year 63, which has perhaps 
received more attention from Roman historians 
C ^racv than it deserves, partly from the fact that it has 
been narrated by Sallust and partly from its con- 
nection with the name of Cicero. Lucius Sergius Catiline, a 
dissolute young patrician, formed a conspiracy with a number of 
his boon companions, like-minded with himself, with the design 
of killing the consuls, setting Rome on fire, burning the ancient 
books, and overthrowing the constitution. The conspiracy was 
discovered by the great orator Cicero, one of the consuls, who 
made a number of speeches about it in the Senate. Cati- 
line fled from Rome and collected some troops at Fiesole ; but 
was defeated at Pistoria, and slain by Marcus Petreius, the lieu- 
tenant of the consul Gaius Antonius. His fellow-conspirators in 
Rome, who included the senator Cethegus and the praetor Lentu- 
lus, were arrested by Cicero's order and strangled in prison. This 
action was supported by Cato, but opposed by Julius Caesar and 
Crassus, who objected to their capital punishment, and preferred 
that they should be imprisoned and deprived of their property. 
To take the life of a Roman citizen was indeed a serious thing. 
Cicero, who firmly believed that he had saved Rome, received 
the title of " Father of his country." Pompeius, on his return 
from Asia, called upon the Senate to confirm all 
Po ^ey ^ ne ari ' an g emen 'ts he had made for the govern- 
ment of the East ; and when they hesitated to do 
this, he made a coalition with Julius Caesar, who had obtained 
great favour with the people. 

Gaius Julius Caesar — probably the greatest man of whom we 

have any knowledge, " the foremost man of all mankind," as 

Shakespeare calls him — was born in the year 99 

Ju ms B c ^ anc | was therefore at this time thirty-six 

years old. He came of the ancient family of the 

Julii, but attached himself in early youth to the popular party, 

seeing probably that the cause of the aristocracy was hopeless 

and that Rome needed a new kind of government. He married 

the daughter of Cinna, and naturally fell into disfavour with 

Sulla, and fled to Asia. Pardoned with difficulty, he did not 

return to Rome until after Sulla's death, and soon afterwards 



44 b.c.] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 197 

went to Greece and Asia Minor to complete the studies which 
were necessary to fit him for a statesman's life. He became 
a complete master of style — his Commentaries, which are de- 
graded to the position of a lower form schoolbook and form a 
part of almost every entrance examination, being one of the 
most perfect examples of literary composition which the world 
possesses. Returning again to Rome, he was elected aedile, and 
won popular favour by the exhibition of splendid games. He 
was recklessly extravagant ; but his debts, amounting, it is said, 
to 800 talents, were paid by Crassus, and he went as praetor to 
Lusitania, where he distinguished himself in war. Being con- 
scious of his great talents, he was naturally ambitious, and set 
himself to rise to power by crushing the authority of the Senate 
and the Optimates and obtaining the favour of the people. The 
coalition formed with Pompeius, which we have already men- 
tioned, gave him influence with the army ; and they both found 
it desirable to join themselves with Crassus, who was possessed 
of enormous wealth. In this manner, in the year The First 
60, the First Triumvirate was formed, consisting Trium- 
of Caesar, Pompeius, and Crassus, a party rather virate. 
for the attainment of their private ends than for the further- 
ance of any public policy in which they were all agreed. 

In the year 59, Caesar was elected consul, and passed a law 
by which all impecunious citizens, and amongst them the 
veterans of Pompeius, should receive portions of the public lands, 
and all the arrangements made by Pompeius in Africa should 
be enforced. At the same time, Pompeius married Caesar's 
daughter Julia. When his consulship was at an end, Caesar 
was appointed as proconsul to the two Gallic provinces, the 
Cisalpine and the Transalpine. The power of the Senate was 
also wrecked, by the removal from Rome of two important 
members of the party, Cicero and Cato. Cicero was attacked 
by the Tribune Publius Clodius for having put the Catiline 
conspirators to death without a formal decree of the Comitia 
Centuriata, and Cato was despatched to clear the island of 
Cyprus of the pirates who had made it their home. 

The conquest of Gaul by Caesar is one of the notable events 
in the history of the world. In eight successive campaigns, 
he entirely reduced to order and made subject to 
the Romans the great country of France, and it Caesar m 
has never lost the form which he then impressed 
upon it. France is now the most homogeneous country in 
Europe, and it owes that to the genius of Caesar. What he did 



198 A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.c. to 

once, he did for ever ; and the settlement of Gaul bears the 
impress of the same powerful mind as that which wrote the 
narrative of his deeds in the Commentaries, where there is 
not a word which could be altered without loss. In these 
campaigns Caesar did many cruel things, but he did them 
completely, and we may suppose that it is in this way that 
the progress of the world is brought about. He fought against 
many tribes and different races in several countries, by land 
and sea. He first attacked the Helvetii, a Celtic race, who, 
pressed by the Germans, had crossed the Jura to find a new 
habitation in Gaul, and drove them back to Switzerland. He 
did the same to Ariovistus, a German Suevian who had also 
invaded Gaul, and made him recross the Rhine. He found 
worthy antagonists in the Belgian Nervii, whom he broke on 
the Sambre, and then subdued with greater ease the tribes 
dwelling on the shores of the Atlantic and the English 
Channel. He crossed the Rhine, and marched into Germany ; 
he built a fleet, and sailed twice to Britain. He put down 
revolt after revolt, and smote the dwellers near Trier, Namur, 
Orleans, and the Scheldt. Having fought them hard and con- 
tinuously during the two terrible years of 54 and 53, he had in 
52 to contend with the greatest of all his opponents, Vercinge- 
torix, who collected against him nearly all the inhabitants of 
Gaul, in the inaccessible mountains of Auvergne, and gained 
the undying distinction of having defeated Caesar. But at 
last Caesar subdued the stubborn patriot by famine at Alesia, 
and scattered to the winds an army of a quarter of a million 
Gauls, who were coming to the assistance of the beleaguered 
city, and in 51 the conquest of Gaul was complete. Yercinge- 
torix adorned the triumph of his conqueror, and was, to the 
disgrace of the Romans, put to death. Thus Caesar executed in 
the West what Pompeius had attempted, with far less success, in 
the East. He had won for himself a great reputation as a 
general, but had also created a devoted army which he could 
use as an instrument to conquer the world and to place himself 
at the head of it. 

Whilst Caesar was thus engaged, the other members of the 

Triumvirate found themselves quite incapable of coping with 

the civil disorders which agitated the capital, 

Rome der 1U with the violence of Clodius and the bloodthirsty 

outrages of Milo. The weak Senate found that 

it alone could preserve some appearance of order, and was able 

to recall Cicero from exile in 57. The three Triumviri met at 



44 b.c.] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 199 

Lucca in 56, and renewed their party coalition. Pompeius and 
Crassus were to be made consuls in 55 : after that Pompeius 
was to have the province of Spain, and Crassus that of Syria, 
while the command of Caesar in Gaul was extended for five 
years from 55 to 50. Crassus brought confusion Break up of 
and ridicule upon the coalition by going to the the Trium- 
wealthy Syria before his time, eager to exploit virate. 
its riches, crossing the Euphrates to attack the Parthians, and 
being conquered and slain at Carrhae in 55. Pompeius, more 
worldly wise, did not go to Spain, but remained in Rome. He 
was becoming afraid of his powerful rival, and the bonds 
between them were weakened by the deaths of Crassus and of 
his wife Julia, Caesar's daughter. He was gradually drawn to 
his natural ally, the Senate, which indeed at that time was 
the only defence against anarchy in Rome. When matters 
came to a crisis in the murder of Clodius on the Appian Way, 
by the prize-fighter Milo, who was a candidate for the consulship, 
Pompeius was made a kind of dictator, with the strange title 
of "consul without a colleague," a contradiction both in letter 
and in spirit of the fundamental constitution of Rome. 

Caesar was too prudent to venture as a private citizen into the 
hornets' nest, where he would probably have been slain, but 
determined to stand for the consulship, so that 
he might take up that office as soon as the Gallic «?„ Senate 
command was over. The Senate met this by 
declaring that no one might stand for an office in his absence, 
and, under the influence of Pompeius, called on him to resign. 
Caesar said that he was willing to do so, if Pompeius would do 
the same, but at last the Senate, becoming aware of the 
danger which threatened them, passed a decree that Caesar, 
unless he laid down his command by a certain day, should be 
regarded as the enemy of the republic. The intercession of 
the tribunes Antonius and Cassius against this decree was 
disregarded, and the constitution was again violated. Pompeius 
was entrusted by the Senate with the defence of the capital. The 
two tribunes, one of them afterwards to be Caesar's murderer, 
the other the avenger of his death, fled to his camp 
at Ravenna, and Caesar, with the words " Jacta „ f . 
est alea " (the die is cast), with only one legion and 
three hundred horsemen, crossed the tiny stream of the Rubicon, 
making it a synonym for ever afterwards for all the forcible 
actions of the world. The civil war had begun. 

Pompeius had not expected this stroke. He left Rome with 



200 A GENERAL HISTORY [214 b.c. to 

Cicero and Cato, and the rest of the Senate, and crossed from 
Brindisi to Epirus to await his antagonist in Greece. Caesar 

did not immediately proceed to the capital. He 
the Senate wen ^' D y wa y °f the coast, to Corfinium, the 

heart of Italy, where the consul Domitius 
Ahenobarbus submitted to him with his army and stores. 
Then he came to Rome, seized the money in the treasury, 
which Pompeius had neglected to take with him, and in sixty 
days became master of Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia. Still avoid- 
ing his chief antagonist, he proceeded to Spain, 
Ler'da. S ° where he conquered, at Lerida, a Pompeian army 

commanded by Afranius and Petreius, secured 
possession of Marseilles, and returned to Rome in December 49. 
Not till the beginning of 48 did he cross hi stormy weather 
from Brindisi to Dyrrachium, and attack the fortified camp of 
Pompeius. Twice was he defeated, and then he traversed the 
range of Pindus into Thessaly, whither Pompeius was foolish 
enough to follow him. The decisive battle came unexpectedly 
at Pharsalia on June 16. Caesar was preparing to retreat 

when Pompeius attacked. " Well ! " he cried, 
Pharsalia " 0lu task 'is at last fulfilled. It is better to 

fight against men than against famine." Pompeius 
had every advantage — twice as many infantry, six times as 
many cavalry — but Caesar, with his seasoned veterans, gained a 
decisive victory. Pompeius escaped first to Cyprus, and then to 
Egypt, where he was murdered, as he stepped upon the shore, 
by his old comrade, Lucius Septimius, in the sight of his wife 
and child. Three days after the murder of Pompeius, on July 
27, 48, according to our modern style, Caesar landed in Egypt, 

and decided the dispute about the succession 
EjrvDt m between Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy, in 

favour of Cleopatra, one of the most striking 
figures in the ancient world and one of the most unfortunate. 
In Alexandria he was attacked by the opposite party, and had to 
remain seven months in the citadel, till he was rescued by King 
Mithradates of Pergamum. Then, having secured Cleopatra in 
. . the possession of Egypt, he went to Asia Minor 

Minor ^° crusn the rebellion of Pharnaces, son of the 

great Mithradates of Pontus. He defeated him 

in the battle of Zela, about which he coined the expression, 

. . " Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered), 

and gave his dominions to the other Mithradates, 
of Pergamum. He then returned to Rome. His next campaign 
was in Africa, where he defeated the Pompeians, who were 



44 e.g.] ROME, MISTRESS OF THE WORLD 201 

assisted by King Juba of Numidia, at Thapsus in 46. Cato, 
despairing of the republic, killed himself in Utica. 
It only now remained to deal with the sons of m ^ 
Pompeius, Gnaeus and Sextus, who had assembled an army in 
Spain, but were defeated in the battle of Munda in 45. 

On his return to Rome, Caesar was made dictator for life, 
and became an absolute sovereign, by uniting in his own person 
the powers of consul, censor, tribune, praetor, 
and pontifex maximus, which had been intended Dilator 
to be mutual checks on each other. He as- 
sumed the airs of a king. He sat in the Senate on a golden 
throne between the two consuls ; he wore the purple mantle of 
a general in his triumph, with a laurel wreath on his head ; he 
coined money with his image and superscription ; he took the 
title of Imperator. These changes in the constitution will be 
more minutely described in the next chapter. For the empire 
which he governed, he did much and projected more. Like the 
young Napoleon, he introduced a spirit of generosity and 
conciliation. He allowed his enemies to return from exile ; he 
gave the hungry citizens of the capital bread ; he cleared Rome 
of robbers, and adorned it with spacious buildings ; he relieved 
hopeless debtors from their burdens, and repressed corrupting 
tyranny with a strong hand. He introduced great agrarian re- 
forms and founded numerous colonies. He extended his prudent 
care to the provinces, and did his best to encourage Greek 
learning and science. He began to codify the law : he reformed 
weights and measures, and introduced the Julian calendar. 
When he died he was preparing for a great war with Parthia 
which should bring that savage and warlike nation within the 
bounds of civilisation. When he had avenged the defeat of 
Carrhae, and secured the Roman frontier in the East, he would 
have subdued the Dacians and the Getans on the banks of 
the Danube, and then, returning to Italy through Germany, 
would have done for these countries what he had previously 
done for Gaul. Had Caesar lived, there would have been no 
invasion of the barbarians, no violent destruction of the Roman 
empire. 

But it was not to be. Nbtwithstancline: the benefits of 
Caesar's rule, the republicans could not see a monarchy arise in 
their midst, however necessary it mi^ht be for the 
salvation of Rome and the civilisation of the * ... 
world. A conspiracy was formed by about sixty 
of the Optimates, who were, perhaps, ill disposed to Caesar as 
the enemy of Pompeius and the leader of a democratic party, 



202 A GENERAL HISTORY [214-14 b.c. 

but were also warmly attached to republican institutions. 
Among the leaders of the plot were the two praetors, Gaius 
Oassius and Marius Junius Brutus, the intimate friend of 
Caesar, who was persuaded to join the conspiracy against him 
with great difficulty. Probably, at first, he and the others only 
intended an open rising and not a treacherous murder. The deed 
took place. A sitting of the Senate had been summoned for the 

Ides of March, B.C. 44, in the theatre of Pompeius. 
Caesar ^ * s sa ^ ^ ia ^ Calpurnia, Caesar's wife, terrified 

by dreams and omens, begged her husband not to 
attend the meeting ; that Spurina, a soothsayer, had especi- 
ally warned him against the Ides of March ; and that Arte- 
midorus had given to him, on the way to the Senate, a paper 
containing an account of the conspiracy, which, however, he left 
unread. He arrived late ; indeed he had made up his mind not 
to go, partly for the sake of Calpurnia, partly because he felt 
unwell, but Brutus, who was in the confidence of the murderers, 
persuaded him to attend. When he took his seat on the 
golden throne, the conspirators crowded round him. Trebonius 
kept Antonius, who might have defended him, engaged in 
conversation at a distance. As they pressed upon him to see 
whether he wore arms or concealed weapons, Caesar, to escape 
their importunity, stood up. Cimber gave the signal, by tearing 
the toga from his shoulder, and Casca stabbed him in the back. 
He sank at length, at the foot of the statue of Pompeius, 
pierced by twenty-three wounds, covering his head and his body 
with his mantle, that he might not fall indecorously, He was 
fifty-two years old. The murder of Caesar is probably the 
most fatal deed which has ever been wrought in the history of 
the world, and it is certainly one of the most dastardly. Had 
he lived — and he might have lived many years — he would prob- 
ably have consolidated the Roman empire with a stronger 
hand than Augustus was able to use, and secured that its 
marvellous government and organisation should pass without 
a break into the progress of mankind. Political prophecy is 
always idle, but this forecast is more probable than most. But 
the vileness of the treachery by which the catastrophe was 
brought about is indescribable. Not without reason has 
Dante, who thought treachery the worst of human vices, placed 
in the three mouths of Lucifer, as he stood imprisoned in the 
centre of the globe, the three great traitors of the world — Judas 
Iscariot, who betrayed his God, and Brutus and Cassius, who 
betrayed and murdered their master. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 44 B.C.-96 A.D. 

The empire of Rome, which succeeded the republic, was 
developed out of it by gradual steps. As the territory of 
Borne, beginning with a city and its suburbs, From 
extended itself first to Italy and then to Republic to 
the whole world as it was then known, the Empire. 
machinery of government devised for it in its earlier con- 
dition became incapable of doing the work which was ex- 
pected from it, and a change became necessary. Before the 
final crisis, the constitution had to be strained, in order to 
accommodate itself to the new order of things. In this 
manner, not only were powers given to the existing magistrates 
which they did not originally possess, but new magistracies 
were created, which were precursors of the imperial power. 
Sulla and Caesar were both made dictators of an entirely 
new kind, and the triumvirate was a phenomenon unknown 
to early Roman history. In the first dictatorship, 82 B.C., 
Sulla was invested with unlimited powers of inflicting capital 
punishment and the confiscation of property, of forming 
colonies, of establishing or abolishing communes, of conferring 
or taking away kingdoms ; and this ample authority, which 
Cicero marks with the fatal title of regnum, was assured to 
him until he had pacified the Roman state. As dictator, 
Caesar presided at the Electoral Council, at which he was him- 
self elected consul for the year 48. He was afterwards created 
dictator for ten years, and then for life. On several occasions 
he held the consulship and the dictatorship together. At 
various times, the Senate and the people imposed on him the 
following powers — the supreme decision of peace and war, the 
tribunician power for life, the privilege of presiding over 
the elections of patrician magistrates, the control of the 
praetorian provinces, the power of censor, under the title of 
praefectus mormn, for three years, and the right of designating 
candidates for plebeian magistracies. Thus Caesar gradually 

203 



204 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

became an absolute monarch for life, and when he was 
murdered on March 15, 44, it mattered little whether he had 
the title of king or not. 

The first triumvirate, of Pompeius, Caesar, and CVassus, was 
a purely political coalition, but the second, of which we shall 
The Second have to speak, was regularly constituted by law. 
Trium- It was first created at the end of 43, to last up 

virate. to January 1, 37, and then renewed for a second 

period of five years, but came to an end by the dissensions of 
those who held it, and was followed by the establishment of 
the empire by Caesar Octavianus, better known as Augustus. 
This was effected in the following way. In 40 b c. he had 
assumed the title of Imperator as a praenomen, considering 
that he inherited it from his adoptive father, Julius Caesar. 
Elements of Being sole master of the empire after the battle 
the Imperial of Actium, he gradually organised the imperial 
Power — The power, having a number of important duties 
Principate. delegated to him by the Senate and the people. 
In 28 B.C., in his sixth consulship, he revised the list of the 
Senate, and became Princeps Senatus, from which time the 
title Princeps designated the emperor as the first magistrate 
of the state, although it never became one of the imperial 
titles officially, and the new form of government was called 
the Principatus, whether the title of Princeps meant princeps 
senatus or not, which is uncertain. But the kernel of the 
empire lay in the union of the two antagonistic 
, e . ew powers of the imperium and the tribunicia 
potestas, which were originally intended to 
balance each other, and the most conspicuous title was that 
of Augustus. Octavius was invested with the imperium in 
27 B.C., and obtained the title of Augustus a few days after- 
wards. This imperium was of a new kind. It included not 
merely the chief command of all the armies, but the decision 
of international questions, an important part in legislation, 
certain judicial functions, and the government of certain pro- 
vinces. This power was further extended by the jus consulage, 
conferred upon Augustus in 23 B.C. On the other side, he 
■Phg renewed the tribunicia potesfas without limit of 

Trihunician time or place in 30 B.C., having been previously 
Power. declared sw.rosanctus in 36, his person being 

rendered inviolable. After 23 B.C., this power was rendered 
both perpetual and annual, so that Augustus began to date 
the years of his reign by the years of his trihunician power. 



a.d. 961 THE ROMAN EMPIRE 205 

Besides this, he held the consulship several times, he became 
a member of all the important colleges of priests, and, in 12 B.C., 
obtained the dignity of pontifex maximus. He was called 
Imperator Caesar Divi Filius, and, in 2 B.C., was invested with 
the honorary title of Pater Patriae. 

The imperial power came to an end by the death of the 
emperor, by his voluntary abdication, or by his deposition. It 
was not hereditary, nor could the emperor name T^g succes- 
his successor. On the demise of the emperor, sion to the 
the imperial power passed into the hands of the Empire. 
consuls, who were the presidents of the Senate. But, if the 
emperor did designate a successor in his lifetime, his known 
desire had great influence over the choice of the Senate, 
although it did not bind them. The candidates naturally 
marked out for the choice of the Senate were the Caesars — that 
is, the legitimate, natural, or adopted sons of the emperor, 
without any right of primogeniture. The emperor might mark 
his preference for any particular Caesar by making him heir 
of his patrimonium. After the time of Hadrian, the cognomen 
Caesar was reserved for those princes of the imperial family 
whom the emperor recommended as candidates for the 
imperial dignity. The emperor could also pave the way for 
the appointment of his successor by securing for him the 
proconsular imperium and a minor degree of the tribunician 
power, just as in the German empire the future emperor 
was first created king of the Romans. If no candidate had 
been designated by the preceding emperor, a candidate was 
generally imposed upon the Senate, either by the Praetorian 
Guard, or by the legions, in the provinces, so that the choice 
of the Senate was rarely free. No especial franchise for the 
post of emperor was prescribed by law, but the emperors of the 
Julian and Claudian houses were patricians by birth, and, if 
a plebeian were chosen emperor, the Senate made him a 
patrician. 

The two principal acts by which Augustus was made emperor 
were the Lex de Imperio, by which he was recognised as 
emperor, and received the official title of Augustus, Formalities 
and the Lex de Potestate Tribunicia, which was of Acces- 
also conferred later than the imperium. These sion. 
two laws were Senatus consulta, submitted for confirmation to 
the will of the Comitia in the Campus Martius, with the 
regular interval of the trinundinum or three market days, 
during which the proposed law was publicly exposed. But 



206 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

before long acclamation was substituted for the regular votes, 
and after the third century this formality took place immedi- 
ately after the meeting of the Senate. Every year, on the first 
of January, the Senate, the magistrates, and the legions took 
an oath to the emperor, by which they bound themselves to the 
observance of his acts, and also those of his predecessors unless 
their acts had been annulled. After the death of the emperor, 
the Senate made an inquiry into his conduct and his public 
acts. If the opinion were unfavourable, the acts were rescinded, 
and his memory was condemned. If it were favourable, he re- 
ceived the consecration of apotheosis and the title of Divus. 
This consecration had to be proposed by the emperor who suc- 
ceeded, and after the third century was done by the emperor 
alone, without the intervention of the Senate. 

We will now proceed to a further examination of the im- 
perial power, and first consider what rights were conferred by 
the Lex de Imperio. By this the emperor was 
The Lex de constituted commander-in-chief of all the forces 
of the empire by land or sea, inside or outside the 
pomoerium. The emperor had the sole right of recruiting or 
dismissing soldiers, although perhaps the recruiting in the 
senatorial provinces may have been subject theoretically to the 
jurisdiction of the Senate. All troops took an oath of allegiance 
to the emperor, and were paid in his name. He had the 
nomination of centurions and of all effective officers of senatorial 
or equestrian rank. He distributed all decorations except the 
triumph, and that fell into his hands after a time. He had, as 
we have said, the right of deciding on peace or war and of 
concluding treaties. He also had the right of disposing of the 
ager publims, the public land, and of assigning it to the 
veterans, and he possessed the exclusive right of admin istering 
the imperial provinces. Besides this, he had considerable 
Legislative power of legislation. This could be effected in 
and Judicial various ways, either directly by the power given 
Powers. to him for passing laws on various subjects, called 

leges datae, or by interpreting laws by what were called Im- 
perial Constitutions, analogous to decrees or ordinances. Not 
The Em- only was the emperor a criminal and a civil 

peror and judge, and an arbitrator, but he could revise the 
otherMagis- decisions of all the other magistrates. The rights 
trates. which he possessed for nominating magistrates, 

he did not use to the full. He presided over the meeting of 
the Senate, and was dispensed from the operation of certain 



ad. 96] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 207 

laws: Besides this, the jus proconsulare, with which he was 
invested, gave him a high authority over senatorial provinces, 
because he possessed by it an imperium superior to that of the 
proconsuls themselves. On the other hand, the potestax tri- 
bunicia, the other focus of his power, given to the emperor for 
life, without limit of time or place, was superior to the potestas 
of the ordinary tribunes, because the emperor could intervene 
against them, but they could not intervene against him. It 
assured to the emperor the inviolability of his person, the 
presidency of the Concilia Plebis, and the power of giving 
auxilium, or special assistance, to all the citizens. It was, as 
we have before said, both perpetual and annual, and Augustus 
and Tiberius reckoned the years of their reigns from the com- 
mencement of their tribunician power. 

The position of pontifex maximus and a clause in the Lex de 
Imperio, conferring on the emperor authority to do anything 
which he thought advisable for the dignity of The Em- 
religion, gave him supreme superintendence over peror and 
the state worship and the nomination of a certain Religion, 
number of priests. He also had other powers. The supervision 
of the equites, which was one of the duties of the 
censors, was taken over by him, and also the p owers 
general superintendence of public works, which 
properly belonged to the aediles. These duties he delegated 
to different colleges of curators, and the duties of the aediles, 
such as the high police of the city of Rome, and the superin- 
tendence of the supply of corn, came into the hands of the 
emperor and were committed to various public functionaries, 
— the high police to the praefertus urbi, the night police to 
the jyraefedus vigilum, the supply of corn to the praefectus 
annonae. In this manner, the emperor united in his own 
person an important share of powers which were exercised 
under the republic by the Senate, the Oomitia, and the Magis- 
trates. 

The emperors were surrounded by much pomp and circum- 
stance, which gradually grew in intensity. They could sit 
either on the curule chair of the consuls, or on 
the little stool of the tribunes. They were ac- (^emonial. 
companied by twelve lictors, and after the time 
of Domitian by twenty-four, with their fasces wreathed in 
laurels, also by running footmen, very necessary in a crowded 
city, by servants to shout before them, as is seen now in India, 
and by linkmen carrying torches. They wore a laurel crown and 



208 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

embroidered robe, and a special triumphal dress on feast days, 
and from the time of Septimius Severus they wore the purple 
military cloak even in Rome. Their statues or busts were set 
up in the headquarters of the legions, and their portraits deco- 
rated their coins. On the first of January each year, solemn 
vows were offered for the life and health of the emperor. His 
birthday and the day of his accession were observed as festivals. 
He was protected by a Praetorian guard, one cohort of which 
was always present wherever the emperor was staying, and by 
foreign guards, generally Germans or Batavians. About the 
beginning of the third century the emperor came to be con- 
sidered as above the laws, and took the title of Dominus, and 
after Aurelian he was called Dominus et Deus (Lord and God). 
The members of the imperial house included the agnatic de- 
scendants of the emperor and their wives, who enjoyed the 
privilege of personal inviolability and the title of Caesar. The 
citizens who were admitted to the presence of the emperor 
were called the emperor's friends, and a selection of these who 
accompanied the sovereign on his journeys outside Italy re- 
ceived the designation of his comites, or travelling companions, 
a name preserved in our modern title of Count. The powers 
entrusted to the emperor required the assistance of a large 
bureaucracy, which was divided by Claudius into different de- 
partments called scrinia. 

The government which we have described is known as the 
Dyarchy — that is, the double rule of the emperor and the re- 
public. Whatever might be the fate of republi- 
Repubhcan can institutions, Augustus was careful to respect 
their forms. He maintained the Comitia as they 
had been before his time, and, in some ways, endeavoured to 
make them more efficient • he completed the Saepta Marmorea 
or ranges of marble pens in the Campus Martius, for the 
purpose of voting, which had been begun by Julius Caesar ; and 
he built a diribitorium for counting the votes. The Comitia, 
however, lost their judicial character, while their legislative 
authority was much curtailed by large powers being given to 
the emperor and the Senate. After the reign of Augustus, the 
intervention of the people in legislation became more and more 
rare, and it did not survive the first century of the empire. 
The Comitia Centuriata and Tributa exercised their electoral 
functions under Augustus, but the right of presenting candi- 
dates was reserved to the emperor, and from the beginning of 
the reign of Tiberius* the power passed to the Senate and the 



a.d. 96] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 209 

emperor. However, until the third century, the solemn an- 
nouncement of the names of successful candidates was still 
made in the Campus Martius. 

The numbers of the Senate, whose members were nominated 
first by Caesar as dictator, and then by the Triumvirs, had 
enormously increased, and very unfit persons had 
been nominated, and Augustus, during his reign, 
held three revisions of the Senate, in order to reduce its numbers 
and to purify it. The normal number of the Senate was fixed 
at 600, the age for becoming a member at twenty-five, and a 
certain property qualification was enforced. The emperor natur- 
ally had great power over its deliberations. He presided at 
its meetings, and could propose motions even in his absence, by 
writing a letter to that effect. The Senate met regularly twice 
every month, excepting in the months of September and October. 
The usual meeting-place was the Curia Julia, on the eastern 
side of the Comitium, which still exists in the church of St. 
Adriano. But, under Caesar and the Triumvirate, the Senate 
lost its power and all independence. It recovered these powers, 
to some extent, under Augustus and Tiberius ; but its essential 
character, as the great consultative body in all important affairs 
of state, was lost for ever. It was indeed, theoretically, the 
principal legislative body of the empire, and under the Dyarchy 
the Senate by right shared the sovereignty with the emperor ; 
but the part which it really played in legislation depended 
on the personal character of the emperor — upon his strength 
and weakness. The Dyarchy was changed to a monarchy in the 
third century, not without some resistance from the Senate. 
An important institution was founded by Augustus in 27 B.C., 
the permanent deputation of the Senate. It consisted of fifteen 
senators drawn by lot, and sitting for six months, with the 
consuls and representatives of other magistrates. It was in- 
tended to fulfil the province of the preliminary discussion of 
matters which were to be brought before the Senate. It was 
afterwards enlarged, and its decisions became equal in value 
to decrees of the Senate. This delegation of the Senate may 
be regarded as the forerunner of the various royal councils, 
and councils of state, which meet us in different forms of 
monarchies, both in medieval and modern times. 

The old magistracies of the republic underwent important 
changes under the empire. The order in which the different 
offices might be held was rigorously observed — first the aedile- 
ship, then the quaestorship or the tribunate, then the praetorship, 



210 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

and lastly the consulate. The censors lost nearly all their 

power, and under Domitian ceased to exist altogether. The 

The Old duration of the consulship was generally shortened, 

Magis- and eventually it was held only for two months, 

trades. there being thus six sets of consuls in the year. 

This arrangement was afterwards imitated by the Italian cities 

of the Middle Ages. At the same time, the first elected were 

regarded as the regular consuls, the others as supernumeraries. 

The consuls retained their high dignity even under the empire, 

but they had very little power excepting as presidents of the 

senate. The administration of the empire had passed entirely 

from their hands into those of the emperor, on Avhom they were 

completely dependent. 

The murder of Caesar was received with horror by the people 
of Rome : they admired and loved him, and were proud to serve 

under him, and they had neither sympathy nor 
*f a , understanding for the policy of the conspirators. 

Antonius seized the occasion. He ordered the 
dead body of Caesar to be carried into the Forum, and made an 
impassioned speech, immortalised by the genius of Shakespeare, 
to the assembled crowd. He told them how Caesar had left 
them, by his will, his gardens across the Tiber and a sum of 
money to every citizen. He showed them his blood-stained 
robe, still gashed by the daggers of the murderers. The body 
was burned on the spot, where a large mass of rubble still marks 
the site, and the heads of the conspiracy were driven from the 
city by public indignation. Antonius now carried a decision 
in the Senate by which all the acts of Caesar, as found in his 
testament and other papers, were confirmed. In a certain 
sense, he took Caesar's place for the moment, and, in order 
to form an army for his protection, he got himself invested 
by the popular vote with the proconsulship of Hither Gaul. 
This had already been assigned by a decree of the Senate to 
Decimus Brutus, who was not prepared to give it up, and, when 
Antony marched to take possession of it, shut himself up in 

the city of Mutina, now Modena, which Antony 
T f h M^t"na was om ig' e( l to besiege. The war of Mutina, as 

it is called, lasted for some little time. The 
Senate, excited by the so-called Philippic orations of Cicero, 
declared Antonius guilty of high treason, and sent an army 
against him under the command of the two consuls, Hirtius 
and Pansa, who defeated him at Mutina, and forced him to 



ad. 96] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 211 

take refuge in Gaul, where he was joined by Lepidus, who had 
been master of the horse under Caesar. 

But both consuls fell in the war, and the command was taken 
by the propraetor, the young Augustus, known as Gaius Julius 
Caesar Octavianus, one of the most remarkable 
men in the annals of the world. His well-known 
boyish bust stands as the model for the expression of statesman- 
like resolution and firmness and for engaging sweetness of dis- 
position. Its discovery in 1806 had much influence in forming 
the type of the portraits of Napoleon. He was now twenty 
years of age, the great-nephew and adopted son of Caesar. 
Aiming at once at avenging his uncle and advancing himself, 
he reversed the policy of the Senate, forcing it to allow his 
election as consul and pass a decree against Caesar's murderers. 
Brutus and Cassius were collecting an army in the East, but 
when Antonius marched to Italy, Octavian joined him, and 
they associated with themselves the far inferior Lepidus. The 
legions of Decimus Brutus mutinied against him, murdered 
him, and sent his head to Antonius, upon which t^ Second 
the three, Octavian, Antonius, and Lepidus, meet- Trium- 
ing on an island in the Reno, near Bologna, virate. 
formed a Triumvirate for the purpose of crushing Brutus and 
Cassius, and the Senate confirmed their arrangement for five 
years. In order to get money, they established a reign of terror, 
in which three hundred senators and two thousand equites lost 
their lives and property, among them the unfortunate Cicero, 
whose savage attacks Antonius could not forgive. 

Now began the war against Caesar's murderers, who repre- 
sented themselves as supporting republican principles. Octa- 
vianus was not able to drive Sextus Pompeius 
from Sicily, where he was intercepting the supply fteaewal of 
of corn to Rome, but he defeated the republican 
fleet at Brindisi, and opened a way for his colleagues to the 
East. Antonius, who possessed great qualities as a general, 
hastened to Macedonia ; and, in 42, entirely de- 
feated Brutus and Cassius in two engagements at pu-v • 
Philippi, where, after their defeat, they both 
killed themselves. Antonius went to Egypt, where he fell 
under the fascinations of Cleopatra, one of the most attractive 
of her sex, who knew how to use her charms and her wealth 
to ensnare political leaders like Caesar and Antonius, but, in 
this seeming dissoluteness, kept a cool head for the solid 
interests of her country. Octavianus returned to Italy, and 



2i2 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

distributed the lands promised to them in Hither Gaul to 
170,000 veterans. Fulvia, the ambitious wife of Antonius, 
jealous of the sudden rise of the young Octavian, and assisted 
by her brother-in-law, Lucius Antonius, joined the discon- 
tented inhabitants of Upper Italy, and made war against the 
upstart youth, the most notable feature of which was the siege 
Renewal of °f Perusia, which Lucius was at last compelled 
the Trium- to surrender. Marcus hastened with a fleet to 
virate. Brundisium, and here the Triumvirate was re- 

newed in the year 40, Octavianus receiving command of the 
West, Antonius of the East, and Lepidus of Africa. 

Concord was preserved among the Triumvirs by the efforts 

of Octavia, the worthy sister of Octavian, whom Antonius 

married after the death of Fulvia. As it was 

Defeat of S. impossible to conquer Sextus Pompeius or his 

Pompeius. « r , , i m • • i -j-l 

fleet, the Triumvirs made an arrangement with 

him at Misenum, by which he should retain for himself Sicily, 
Sardinia and Corsica, and Achaia. But there was some re- 
luctance to carry out these conditions, and the result was a 
maritime war between Pompeius and Octavian, which lasted 
from 38 to 36, and ended with the defeat of Pompeius at Mylae 
and Naulochus by a fleet which M. Vipsanius Agrippa had built. 
Pompeius, seeking assistance from Antonius, was treacherously 
murdered at Miletus in 35. Lepidus, who had assumed a 
position for which his talents and capacities in 
Lepidus n0 wa y fitted hi mj was forced to retire from the 

Triumvirate, and died many years afterwards at 
Circeii in honourable retreat. 

Octavian was now undisputed master of the West, and, living 
at Rome, won the favour of all by his strong and prudent 
Mark government. But Antonius, at Alexandria, allowed 

Antony in himself to become more and more the slave of 
the East. Cleopatra and to be corrupted by oriental ways. 
She robbed him of the provinces of Phoenicia, Coele-Syria, 
and parts of Judaea and Cilicia; she incited him to make war 
against the Parthians, which cost him the greatest part of 
his army, and to celebrate in her capital an unworthy 
triumph over Artavasdes, the king of Armenia, which was 
a disgrace to the Roman name ; and finally to declare war 
against Octavian, whose sister Octavia he latterly divorced. 
Octavian was roused to action, but, to avoid the appearance 
of another civil war, he declared war against Cleopatra. The 
two lovers, instead of proceeding to Italy, which was unpre- 
pared for resistance, spent the winter in silken dalliance at 



a.d. 96] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 213 

Ephesus, and then at Athens. In the following year, 31, 
Octavian had collected an army of 80,000 infantry, 12,000 
cavalry, and a fleet of 250 ships. With this he fought the 
battle of Actium in the Ambracian Gulf. The victory fc was 
a strange one. Antonius had a superior army 
and twice the number of ships, but Cleopatra . a . . e ° 
cared less for Antonius than for her own safety, 
and determined to desert him at the first opportunity. With 
this view she insisted on a sea fight, leaving the army 
unused. Agrippa attacked the unwieldy galleons of Antonius 
with his light Liburnian vessels, and, when Cleopatra saw that 
the result of the conflict was doubtful, she sailed away with her 
fleet, and Antonius followed her. Agrippa thereupon pursued 
the ships of the enemy, and the land forces, when they were 
assured of the flight of their general, surrendered. Octavian 
thus became the undisputed master of the world, having arrived 
at this position by prudence and self-command, without one 
trace of treachery or deceit. 

It now remained to subdue Cleopatra. Strengthened by the 
legions of Antonius, Octavian went first to Greece, then to the 
Greek islands, and lastly to Egypt. Cleopatra Death of 
now tried her arts of fascination over him, who Antony and 
in his brilliant youth would have been a more Cleopatra. 
worthy conquest than either Caesar or Antonius, but he was 
proof against temptation. However, he used her devotion to 
him to get possession of her army and her fleet. When 
Antonius sought to upbraid her for her treachery, she shut 
herself up with the treasures she had amassed in the mausoleum 
which she had constructed. She let Antonius believe that she 
was dead, and he put an end to his life, dying eventually, it is 
said, in her arms. Once more she used her arts to obtain her 
liberty from Octavian, but, when he resisted, she took poison, 
that she might not suffer the disgrace of being exhibited in his 
triumph. The story goes that she was poisoned by an asp 
concealed in a basket of figs. Octavian gave her a splendid 
funeral, and buried her by the side of Antonius. The lovers 
now rest under a powder magazine in the harbour of Alexandria, 
opposite the world-renowned Pharos, and it is difficult to dis- 
cover why the present masters of Egypt do not disinter their 
remains. Egypt was made into a province, independent of 
the control of the Senate, and Octavian returned to Rome to 
celebrate his triple triumph, and to consolidate his imperial 
government in the manner which has been already related. 

It is impossible within the compass of this work to give 



214 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

an adequate account of the Augustan Age, one of those rare 
periods of harmony in the history of the world when cir- 
cumstances united to produce peace, wealth, and culture. 
Augustus, Augustus aimed at establishing an empire in the 
Master of form of a republic. His domains included 
the World. almost the whole of the world as it was then 
known — in Europe, the peninsulas of Spain, Italy, and the 
Balkans, with Gaul as far as the Rhine ; in Asia, Asia Minor 
and Syria as far as the Euphrates ; in Africa, Egypt and 
Carthage. He was a lover of peace, and the wars which he 
undertook on the Rhine and the Danube, and in the Alps, were 
undertaken for the defence of the Roman frontiers. 

In order to secure the northern frontier of Italy, Drusus and 

Tiberius, the stepsons of Augustus, carried on, in the years 16 

and 15 B.C., several successful campaigns against 

The German t] c lti ^ between the Alps and the 

Danube ; and made Raetia, Vandalusia, Noricum, 

and Pannonia into Roman provinces, defended by fortresses at 

Vienna, Regensburg, Salzburg, and Augsburg. Drusus also 

undertook, in the years 12 to 9 B.C., four campaigns in the 

interior of Germany as far as the Elbe, and fortified the frontier 

from Mainz to the north of the Rhine by forty fortresses, 

amongst which were Xanten, one of the most interesting of 

German towns, Cologne, Bonn, Coblenz, Mainz, Strasburg, and 

Basel. His brother Tiberius also brought under Roman sway, 

mainly by adroit diplomacy, the north-west of Germany from 

the Elbe to the Rhine. One of the Roman governors left in 

Arminius these provinces was Quintilius Varus, who offended 

defeats the Germans by the little regard which he paid 

Varus. to their laws and customs. They rose against 

him, led by their heroic chieftain Arminius, who belonged to 

the tribe of the Cherusci, and defeated him in 9 B.C. in the 

defiles of the Saltus Teutoburgensis, now known as the Teuto- 

burger Wald, in the neighbourhood of Detmold. This defeat 

produced a profound effect on the Romans, and was indeed 

never forgotten, and it is now celebrated as a glorious victory 

by the modern Germans. Thus the descendants of Julius 

Caesar tried in vain to establish that settlement of the frontier 

Augustus' OI the empire which he would have effected if he 

domestic had lived. Augustus was unfortunate in his 

Troubles. domestic arrangements and relations ; if he had 

been less so the empire would have suffered fewer shocks, and 

would have been more successful. Augustus married and 






r 




3 






5x 






-;.i 



^tS 




a.d. 96] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 215 

divorced two wives in early youth : he married Scribonia in 38, 
but divorced her a year afterwards, when she had borne him a 
daughter, Julia, having been fascinated by the charms of Livia, 
the wife of Tiberius Claudius Nero, who surrendered her to 
him. Livia's two sons, Tiberius, who was born in 42 B.C., and 
Drusus, who was born three months after her marriage to 
Augustus, were brought up in the house of her former husband, 
but after his death were transferred to the house of Augustus. 
The most promising member of the imperial household was 
Marcellus, the son of Ocbavia, sister of Augustus, who in early 
youth married Julia, the daughter of Augustus, to the disgust 
of Livia, who designed her for one of her own children. His 
principal rival was Agrippa, his brother-in-law, who was very 
jealous of Maecenas. Marcellus died in 23 B.C., the darling of 
the Roman people. Augustus now married Julia to Agrippa, 
who, for the purpose, divorced Marcella, the sister of Marcellus. 
In 17 Agrippa went with Julia to the East to arrange disputed 
successions and other matters, and founded Julia Felix on the 
site of the modern Beirut. After spending several years in the 
East, Agrippa returned to Rome, and died in March B.C. 12, 
being buried by Augustus with distinguished honour. His 
Pantheon at Rome, like his splendid baths, has been replaced 
by buildings of a considerably later period. Tiberius was 
now thirty years old. Livia divorced him from his wife, 
Vipsania Agrippina, whom he dearly loved, and made him 
marry Julia, who had already borne five children to Agrippa — 
three sons, Gains, Lucius, and Agrippa ; and two daughters, 
Julia and Agrippina. This brought him near the succession, 
but Augustus did not care, for him. 

The imperial circle was now sadly diminished in numbers. 
Agrippa, Octavia, Drusus, and Maecenas all died between the 
years 12 and 8 B.C. Augustus turned with affec- ip^g 
tion to his grandsons, Gaius and Lucius, the Imperial 
children of his daughter Julia and his friend Family. 
Agrippa, gave them the title of Caesar, and treated them as 
members of his family. They were regarded with jealousy by 
Livia ; and Tiberius, perhaps to escape the annoyance of family 
broils, obtained permission to go to the island of Rhodes, where 
he spent seven years in deep study. Suddenly Augustus took 
the surprising step of banishing his own daughter, the mother 
of his favourite grandsons, to the island of Pandataria, on the 
plea that her mode of life was a scandal to the imperial family. 
This is certainly correctly ascribed to the jealous intrigues of 



216 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

Livia, but it is difficult to penetrate the intricacies of that 
corrupt age, in which ordinary men and women had to bear a 
burden of sovereignty too heavy for any human being to support. 
Deaths of Julia's son Gaius, now eighteen years of age, was 
Gaius and sent with proconsular authority to Asia, with the 
Lucius. object of subduing the Armenians, who had re- 

volted from Rome with the assistance of the Parthians, and of 
punishing certain Arabian tribes. Accompanied by Lollius 
as an adviser, he went by way of Samos to Egypt, visited 
Tiberius at Rhodes, and then proceeded to Palestine and Syria. 
He had an interview with the Parthian king, Phraates, on an 
island in the Euphrates, and persuaded him to evacuate 
Armenia. But, worn out by exertions and weakened by a 
wound, he died in Lycia on February 4, his younger brother 
Lucius having also succumbed to sickness eighteen months 
earlier at Marseilles. Their deaths are, of course, attributed to 
poison administered by Livia, but without the slightest evidence. 
At last, Augustus himself, now seventy-six years 

Augustus °^' c ^ ec * su d ( l en ly at Nola, in Campania. It is 
said that Livia, then an old woman of seventy, 
not only poisoned her husband, but concealed his death until 
Tiberius could be brought to Rome. These stories are to be 
regarded more as evidence of the degeneracy of the age than as 
serious history. Augustus was burned and buried in the Campus 
Martins, where the remains of his stately mausoleum still exist. 
The character of Augustus has always been a matter of great 
dispute, some regarding him as a mere actor, others as a far- 
Place of seeing statesman of the first rank. The wise 
Augustus in historian will probably concur with the latter 
History. judgment. Julius Caesar, greater than his suc- 
cessor, has undoubtedly the credit of having conceived the form 
which it was necessary for the new empire to take if it was to be 
successful and lasting. But he was only able to lay the founda- 
tions of it, and the raising of the imperial fabric was left to 
Augustus. He governed the empire with such wisdom and 
judgment and moderation that the Augustan Age has always 
been regarded as one of the few bright spots in the annals of 
mankind, an oasis of security in the desert of turmoil, in which 

it was both appropriate and fortunate that the 
The Birth • 

of Christ great Founder of our religion, Jesus Christ, should 

be born. The birth of Christ not only dignifies 

the reign of Augustus, but stamps its character. Only in 

a period of rest, in silence of arms, in a world-peace, could 



a.d. 96} THE ROMAN EMPIRE 217 

Christianity have come into existence and found an appropriate 
nidus for its growth and dissemination. Undoubtedly the 
momentous hiatus between the years of before and after Christ 
was bridged over by the rule of one of the greatest of earthly 
sovereigns. As with Pericles, his sweet and noble countenance 
indicated the wisdom and moderation which characterised his 
rule. Whether he spoke or was silent, a cheerful restfulness 
played over his countenance, and his benevolence disarmed the 
violence of the assassin. He combined dignity and geniality ; 
his large clear eyes were the windows of a mind wide and 
penetrating in the outlook. If we regard Caesar as the most 
highly gifted of human beings, with capacities so far beyond 
our power to imitate them adequately, Augustus must remain 
for us the embodiment of dignity and wisdom, the oracle of the 
Roman empire, the builder who found Rome built of bricks and 
mortar and who left it of marble, the man of letters who 
surrounded himself with historians and poets who would rightly 
make his age an object of admiration and envy to posterity. 

Tiberius reigned for twenty-three years, from 14 to 37 a.d. 
The narrative of his reign has been so disturbed by calumny, 
and so smirched by revolting falsehoods, that 
it is difficult to describe it' accurately. The ^Serius 
probability is that he was really a great ruler, 
but, having passed a great portion of his time in solitude and 
study, he was less fitted for imperial representation than Caesar 
or Augustus, and his retirement to the island of Capri at the 
end of his life is a pendant to his seclusion at Rhodes in his 
middle age. No doubt, the great glories of his reign lay in the 
victories of Germanicus, his nephew and adopted Campaigns 
son, the child of his brother Drusus, who succeeded of Ger- 
him in the pacification of Germany, a country manicus. 
which was a constant thorn in the side of Rome, but which 
Julius Caesar would have reduced to order if he had lived. 
In 14 A.D., at the news of the death of Augustus, a mutiny 
broke out in the camp of Vetera on the Rhine, and Germanicus 
hastened from Gaul to suppress it, which he effected with some 
difficulty. He thought that the best remedy for disaffection 
would be active service, and he led his troops over the river. 
Here he conducted three campaigns with the same energy as 
his father Drusus. In the first, he devastated the territory of 
the Marsi, but was driven back by the union of the Bructeri 
and Usipetes. In the second he defeated the Chatti, broke 
into the lands of the Cherusci, and paid funeral honours to the 



218 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

dead whose bones recorded the catastrophe of Varus, three 
years before. He was, however, repulsed by an attack of 
Arminius, and also lost his fleet by a storm. At the same time 
his lieutenant, Oaecina, suffered a severe defeat in Friesland. 
In the third campaign, he sailed with a fleet of a thousand 
ships into the Ems, and then marched to the Weser, where he 
gained a victory, but was obliged to retire before superior 
forces. Germanicus was preparing for a fourth campaign, 
when he was recalled, not necessarily from jealousy, but because 
Tiberius had conceived a different idea of frontier policy, and 
thought that the Germans had better be allowed to slaughter 
each other by mutual quarrels. After his departure, Arminius 
marched against Marbod, who had taken no part in the 
campaign against the Romans, and drove him back into 
Bohemia, where he was deposed by Catualda, a Gothic prince, 
and, surrendering himself to the Romans, was sent to Ravenna. 
In 21, Arminius, the great German patriot, fell by treachery. 
From this time the Romans contented themselves with a 
defensive policy on the Rhine and the Danube. 

From his brilliant but not very successful campaigns in 
Germany, Germanicus was sent to the East, where there was 

plenty to occupy his attention. He visited the 
i^th^East 5 P laces °f an cient fame — Athens, Byzantium, Ilion, 

and Colophon — and was able to alleviate misery 
which an earthquake had inflicted on Asia Minor. It is said that 
he was opposed in all his undertakings by Calpurnius Piso, the 
governor of Syria, and his wife Plancina. He brought order 
into the affairs of Armenia, Parthia, and Cappadocia. He then 
sailed up the Nile as far as the second cataract, and studied 
the history and monuments of that country, and relieved the 
conditions of the suffering people. Returning to Syria, he 

died at Daphne, a suburb of Antioch, at the age 

of 34 — it was of course said by poison. His wife 
Agrippina brought back his ashes to Rome in a triumphal 
progress which has few parallels in history, and has been 
described to us by the brilliant but partial pen of Tacitus. Piso 
returned to Rome in 20, but was accused of murder before the 
Senate. Whatever may have been the truth, public opinion was 
strongly against him, and before judgment was pronounced he 
killed himself. His wife Plancina received a pardon, and 
his sons were allowed to inherit their father's property. 
Agrippina was left with three sons, Nero, Drusus, and Gaius. 
She entirely believed the charge against Piso and his wife, and was 



a.d. 9.6] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 219 

very bitter at the way in which her husband had been treated. 
She was supposed to be urging her children to aim at the 
throne, and, by a decree of the Senate, was sent with her son 
Nero to an island, where they both perished by hunger. In 
the following year, her second son, Drusus, was declared an 
enemy of his country, imprisoned, and killed. It is generally 
related that the later years of Tiberius, when he assumed more 
power to himself and paid little attention to the Senate, were 
largely under the control of Sejanus, who was head of the 
Praetorian Guard. We must again receive the utterances of 
Tacitus and Juvenal with caution. He died at the age of seventy- 
eight at Misenum, and he was succeeded by Gaius, the third son of 
Germanicus, who had by some good fortune escaped the fate of 
his brothers. 

The twelve Caesars, who have always occupied so prominent 
a part in the history of the world, are made up of four sets of 
three. The first three of these, Julius Caesar, 
Augustus, and Tiberius, have already received Caesars 
attention. Then came Caligula, Claudius, and 
Nero, with whom the Julian- Claudian family, natural and 
adopted, came to an end. These were succeeded by the three 
military Emperors, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, and these again 
by the three emperors of the Flavian house, Vespasianus, 
Titus, and Domitian. It is difficult to write the history of any 
of these emperors with accuracy. They occupied a position 
in the world which has rarely been held by any human being — 
that of absolute control over a large portion of the globe, indeed 
the only portion of any importance; called to this position 
suddenly and by a kind" of accident, unprepared for it them- 
selves, without the apparatus and the instruments of govern- 
ment which were necessary for the successful fulfilment of their 
duties. This produced two results. First, it placed upon 
human beings, generally of ordinary capacity, a burden far too 
heavy for them to bear ; it made the mild capricious, in some 
cases nearly mad. Secondly, it made a judicial and temperate 
account of their reign almost impossible, because historians 
had not yet come to understand the conditions under which 

such extraordinary powers must necessarily be 

t n J r ,1 in , -1 •, The Roman 

exercised, and consequently could not describe uj s t ri ans 

them. We have to depend on two lines of 

narrative ; authors like Suetonius giving prominence to silly 

stories and to court gossip, which, even if true, would throw 

little light upon the facts about which we are most interested, 



220 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

and others, politicians like Tacitus or satirists like Juvenal, 
powerful and impressive writers, who are so full of party 
jealousy, and so bitterly conscious of the evils of autocratic 
rule, that it is impossible to separate truth from falsehood. It 
is a safe rule, in considering the career of a very great man 
like Caesar or Napoleon, not to pay attention to his imputed 
faults until you have taken trouble to understand his merits, 
and the same is true of persons holding exceptional authority, 
which removes them from the society of the multitude, like the 
early emperors of Rome, and some similar rulers in modern 
times. We have tried in our own narrative to follow this rule, 
to disregard the stories with which many accounts of these 
sovereigns are filled, and to confine ourselves to those matters 
which are of permanent interest and the evidence of which is 
tolerably certain. 

Of the second group, Gaius, known as Caligula, the name 
of the military shoe which he wore as a child during the 

campaigns of his father, was the youngest son 
eigns o Q £ Q erm anicus, w h escaped the murder of his 

uncle and his two elder brothers. He reigned 
only five years, from 37 to 41 a.d. We are told that he was 
first received with joy and acclamation, but that, after a few 
months, he fell a victim to the madness of despotism, which 
led to acts of cruelty and extravagance, so that he was mur- 
dered by an officer of the Praetorian Guard. He was succeeded 

by his uncle, the younger brother of Germanicus, 
^ ,. known as Claudius, who reigned from 41 to 54. 

We know that he was a scholar and a man of 
science. We are told that he was ridiculous in appearance 
and character, and that after his death he was changed, 
not into a god, but into a pumpkin. But that need not 
concern us : the solid facts of his reign are that he made the 
harbour of Ostia ; began to drain the Lake Fucinus, an enter- 
prise completed in our days ; invaded our country Britain, and 
took a personal part in the campaign ; made Mauretania, Lycia, 
and Thrace into Roman provinces ; and, after the death of 
Herod Agrippa, brought Judaea under the control of the 
Roman government. He had two wives, Messalina, and 
Agrippina, of whom we do not hear a good account. The 
name of the first has become proverbial for inordinate lust, 
and the second has been raised by the literary talents of 
Tacitus to an eminence in which we do not know whether to 
detect or pity her most. She had a son called Britannicus by 



A.i). 90] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 221 

the Emperor Claudius, and another son, Nero, by her first 
husband, Domitius Ahenobarbus. 

Britannicus died as a boy, and when Claudius died, we 
are told by poison, Nero succeeded to the throne. He pro- 
duced a powerful effect on the Roman world, Reign and 
which will never be effaced, but there is the Character 
same difficulty in disentangling truth from false- °f Nero, 
hood in the annals of his life. He had been educated chiefly 
by the philosopher Seneca, one of the wisest and best men of 
the time, and was directed in state affairs by Burrus, the 
prefect of the Praetorian Guard, who was an excellent adviser. 
During the early part of his reign, which lasted for fourteen 
years, from 54 to 68, he gave good hopes, but afterwards the 
madness which accompanies unrestrained power in minds not 
able to bear it seems to have taken possession of him. We 
need not believe the worst stories told about him — that he 
murdered his brother, his mother, and his wife, or that he 
wilfully set Rome on fire. He certainly put to death both 
Jews and Christians, who were both unpopular, but there is 
no evidence that he instituted a systematic persecution of 
either one or the other. He took advantage of the burning of 
Rome to rebuild the city in a more magnificent and safer 
style, which it sadly wanted, and erected for himself a gorgeous 
palace called the Golden House, which he filled with the spoils 
of the temples of Asia and Greece. There can be little doubt 
that he possessed great artistic gifts, both in music and in 
acting, and that he loved to exhibit these accomplishments in 
an undignified manner, and showed himself in this way quite 
unworthy of his position. It was natural that the serious 
soldiers of his empire should rise against him with a view of 
putting a more worthy successor in his place. Julius Vindex, 
propraetor of Gaul, and Servius Sulpicius Galba, proconsul of 
Spain, formed a conspiracy against him, and Galba was elected 
emperor and marched upon Rome. Nero fled to a country 
house, where, at his own request, he was killed by a faithful 
servant. He did not die unlamented. His personality had 
made a deep impression upon the Roman world, so that there 
was a belief that he was not really dead, but would return 
some day from the far East, where he lay concealed. His bust 
in Rome was decorated every year with fresh flowers, false 
Neroes arose to represent him, and it is said that even Domitian 
trembled at his name. He was sincerely mourned by the Greeks, 
for whose art and literature he had a deep admiration, and 



222 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c. to 

who could not forget that he had visited Athens to show his 
artistic accomplishments. On the other hand, the Christians 
regarded him as Antichrist. With him perished the imperial 
line which could boast its descent from Venus and Aeneas, and 
which, for two hundred years, had been so closely connected 
with the most important events in the history of the Roman 
world and people. 

The next triad of Caesars (Galba, Otho, and Vitellius) reigned 
only for a year and a half, from June 68 to December 69. 
Galba, a strict and penurious old man, seventy- 
Sp 1 ^ °» three years of age, whose virtues were not fitted 
to that self-indulgent age, was murdered by the 
Praetorians, after a reign of six months. Otho, viceroy of Lusi- 
tania, who had bought the crown, was defeated by his rival 
Vitellius, at Bedriacum, in Upper Italy, at the spot where the 
Chiese flows into the Oglio. Otho is represented as a luxurious 
fop, who never deserted his looking-glass, and Vitellius, as a 
very fat man with swollen cheeks, whose chief delight lay in 
the pleasures of the table. Happily they were succeeded by a 
more worthy ruler, T. Flavins Vespasianus, the first of the 
Flavian line, who, being then in the East, was summoned to 
the throne by the legions of Moesia, Pannonia, and Egypt. He 
did not establish his power without a conflict in Rome itself, 
in which the ancient Capitoline temple was destroyed by fire. 
The confusion and disorder of the capital produced its natural 
effect in the provinces. The Batavi, the warlike ancestors of 
the Dutch, with the warlike race of the Frisians, stirred up 
by their patriotic prophetess Velleda, rose in rebellion under 
Claudius Civilis, and were put down with difficulty ; and, at the 
same time, the Gauls, under Julius Sabinus, who was desirous 
to found a Gallic kingdom for himself, also rose to help their 
neighbours on the sea-coast. Not until the year 70 was peace 
restored. The turbulent Jews, who had driven out the vice- 
roy of Syria, Cestius Gallus, declared their independence, and 
in 67 Vespasian was sent to quell them. He was, however, 
recalled to the capital to be emperor, and left his son Titus 
in command. Titus besieged Jerusalem, captured it, and de- 
Destruction stroyed the holy temple by fire, a large number 
of Jeru- of Jews perishing in the flames. This destruction 

salem. f the Jewish temple by Titus in 70, although it 

may have seemed a slight matter to the Romans of that time, 
was really an event of great importance in the history of the 
world. It not only obliterated the most holy seat of worship 



a.d.96] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 223 

in Syria, and left the people of that country without a shrine 
which might give expression to their religious aspirations, but 
had the effect of scattering the Jews through all the nations 
of the world, and also gave a great impulse to the dissemination 
of Christianity. 

In Vespasian, Rome had once more a worthy emperor, who 
brought back order and morality into the shattered polity. He 
reformed the Senate, gave it back its privileges, 
placed the finances on a sound footing, and set an ei S ns .° 
example of simplicity and moderation. He was 
a friend of science and education, established a system of paid 
professors, and enriched Rome by inimitable buildings, the 
Temple of Peace, and the Coliseum, which is now one of the 
wonders of the world, an amphitheatre to contain without diffi- 
culty 90,000 spectators. He attempted to subdue Britain, and 
sent to it the notable statesman Agricola, who, during the 
years 78 to 85, left there an example of wise and benevolent 
rule. His son Titus, who was associated with 
him in the government on his return from an 1 us ' 
Palestine, succeeded him in 79. He was less stern than his 
father, and left a memory more remarkable for kindness and 
benevolence. This was shown by his treatment of Rome, after 
it had been devastated by a three days' fire, and by the zeal 
he displayed in relieving Italy, when it suffered from famine, 
pestilence, and earthquake. He received the title of the " love 
and darling of the human race," and he was accustomed to say 
that he considered that day lost in which he had not performed 
a benevolent action. It was in his reign that Herculaneum, 
Pompeii, and Stabiae were -destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius 
on August 24, 79. 

After a reign of ten years, in which he deeply impressed the 
imagination of mankind, Titus died at the early age of forty- 
one, and was succeeded by his brother Domitian, 
who reigned for fifteen years, from 81 to 96. A 
man of very different character, he, too, began well, but, like 
several of his predecessors, was not able to support the burden 
of irresponsible rule, and became a cruel and cowardly tyrant. 
He called himself not only Lord, but God, Divus as well as 
Dominus ; he robbed the rich to gratify his habits of extrava- 
gance, and delighted in murder. At last he was murdered by 
his wife. He was unfortunate in war. He celebrated a 
triumph over the Chabri, whom he had never conquered, and 
over the Dacians, the warlike inhabitants of Transylvania and 



224 A GENERAL HISTORY [44 b.c.-a.d. 96 

Roumania, who were reserved to fall before a more worthy 
antagonist. He completed the conquest of Britain, but killed 
Agricola through jealousy. He did a great deal for the advance- 
ment of the capital. He built the palace which to-day excites 
our wonder on the Palatine Hill, and the Temple of Vespasian, 
which is the most beautiful monument in the Forum. To him 
also is due the famous Arch of Titus, with which he celebrated 
his brother's victory over the Jews. 

The reigns of the three Flavian emperors, the last triad of 
the twelve Caesars, form a notable epoch in the history of the 
The Roman empire. Under them the frontiers of the 

Imperial empire were extended beyond the Rhine, and 

Frontiers. beyond the Danube. An enlightened frontier 
policy was introduced. New provinces were formed, and the 
great wall of defence, the " limes Romanus," extending from 
the Rhine to the Danube, was built to safeguard Roman 
territory against German incursions. Domitian's name has 
become notorious for his persecution of the Christians, but this 
has been probably exaggerated, and was caused by the oppres- 
sion of the Jews by heavy taxes, and by the little distinction 
that was drawn between Christians and Jews. The Flavian 
period was, on the whole, a worthy prelude to the great age of 
the Antonines, but, after all allowance has been made for 
calumnious exaggeration, the historian will find it difficult to 
place Domitian on a level with his brother and his father, 
although, undoubtedly, in his longer reign, he did more to carry 
out their designs. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 96-337 A.D. 

The world has probably never seen a nobler series of sovereigns 
than those to whom its government was committed after the death 
of Domitian. Nerva only reigned a short time, 
and had little opportunity of showing what was in Antonines 
him, but Trajan remains the example of a strong 
and faultless ruler, and the reigns of his three successors, 
Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius — the " age of 
the Antonines " — form, by the general consent of posterity, an 
oasis in the desert of human affairs. Marcus 
Cocceius Nerva, a senator advanced in years, who 
had probably taken part in the conspiracy against Domitian, 
was chosen by the Praetorian Guard to be his successor. He 
proceeded to reverse the policy of Domitian, and gave the chief 
power into the hands of the Senate. He opened the prison 
doors, he recalled exiles from banishment, he put an end to the 
curse of informers, he was an enemy of extravagance, he 
alleviated the burdens of the provinces. This policy, however, 
did not please the Praetorians, and they regretted that they had 
given their consent to Nerva's election. To remedy the defects 
of his own character, he summoned to the throne, as his col- 
league, Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, a capable and . 
respected general. He was by birth a Spaniard, ■" 
who had, first as consul and then as commander of the Rhine 
army, obtained a great reputation. He combined, as much as 
any emperor who had ever reigned over the empire, the two 
conflicting principles of imperium and libertas. Europe still 
exhibits many monuments of his reign. He completed the 
Appian Road through the Pontine marshes ; he created new 
harbours, and built roads and bridges, such as the bridge over the 
Rhine at Mainz. The roads he made along the Danube above 
Orsova, and the bridge which he built over that mighty river 
below the Iron Gate, still attract the interest of the traveller. 
He established a system of post-houses throughout the empire : 

3-5 p 



226 A GENERAL HISTORY La.d. 96 to 

he provided for the education of five thousand orphan children. 
The districts between the Rhine and the Danube generally 
known as the Agri Decumates he surrounded by a wall, so as 
to secure their being contained within the Roman empire. 
He defeated the Dacians in two campaigns, and the column of 
Trajan in the Forum, which he constructed at Rome, still 
remains as evidence of his conquests, covered with valuable re- 
presentations of the conflicts by which they were achieved. He 
made Dacia into a Roman province. He delivered Armenia, 
Mesopotamia, and Assyria from the incursions of the Parthians, 
and entered the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, as a conqueror. 
He marched through Arabia, and reached the Persian Gulf. 
He formed a province of Arabia, consisting of a portion of 
Syria from Damascus to the Red Sea. He made an expedition 
into Nubia, and extended its boundaries. His health suffered 
from the hardships borne in these torrid lands, and he pre- 
pared to obey the order of the Senate which recalled him to 
Italy, but he died on August 11, 117, at the age of 64, at 
Selinus in Cilicia, which afterwards bore the name of Trajano- 
polis. His ashes were brought to Rome in a golden urn, and 
buried at the foot of his column, which he had erected in his 
Forum. He received the title of " Optimus," and it was 
customary to greet future emperors on their accession with the 
words, " May you be more fortunate than Augustus and better 
than Trajan ! " 

He was succeeded by a worthy successor, Publius Aelius 
Hadrianus, who reigned twenty-one years, from 117 to 138. He 
was a relation of Trajan, and married his wife 
Hadrian. patina. He paid great attention to law, as 
Trajan had to education. He codified Praetorian Law, the 
Equity of the Romans ; invited distinguished lawj 7 ers to the 
capital ; and organised the administration of the empire in the 
three separated departments of palatine, public, and military, 
concerning respectively the empire, the state, and the army — 
a classification which endured to the latest times. The great 
feature of his reign lay in the imperial progresses, in which he 
visited every part of his dominions, very largely on foot, 
remedying abuses, and leaving monuments of his rule in 
magnificent buildings. In Rome, the Castle of Saint Angelo, 
first founded as his sumptuous burying place, recalls his memory 
to every traveller. The falls of Tivoli owe their origin to him, 
and his villa in that neighbourhood was full of buildings and 
works of art which recalled the memory of his travels. He 



ad. 337] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 227 

completed the dome of the Pantheon, which Agrippa had begun. 
He enriched Athens with a new quarter. His court was the 
house of learned men, and was illustrated by historians such as 
Arrian and Plutarch, philosophers such as Epictetus, rhetoricians 
such as Fronto and Herodes Atticus. He pursued a policy of 
peace, and surrendered the conquests which Trajan had made 
beyond the Euphrates. In Britain he built the great wall 
to keep out the invasions of the Picts, and in Germany he 
completed the limes which had been worked at by several of 
his predecessors. He had great trouble with the Jews. A new 
town had been built on the site of Jerusalem, destroyed by Titus, 
called Aelia Capitolina, and a temple of Jupiter was erected on 
Mount Moriah. This roused the Jews to an insurrection under 
Barchochebas, put down by Hadrian with the 
greatest energy, which resulted in the absolute -Dispersion 
destruction and disintegration of the Jewish 
nation. It is said that 580,000 Jews were killed in the war, 
and a thousand towns and villages destroyed. In the last years 
of Hadrian's life he adopted Aelius Verus, for whom, as for the 
beautiful Antinous, he had a passionate affection, but who died 
shortly afterwards. The emperor did not long survive him. 
He died at Baiae on July 10, 138, at the age of sixty-two, 
in great personal suffering, which led him to some acts of 
cruelty towards the close of his career. In all the activity 
of his public duties, his personal individuality asserted itself 
in strongly marked characteristics. He fascinates the historian, 
whether he cares much for government or for literature and 
art. 

Hadrian was succeeded by his adopted son, Antoninus Pius, 
probably the best emperor who ever ascended the throne of the 
Caesars. Unfortunately, very few records of his 
reign remain. His name Pius has been variously Antoninus 
interpreted, but his deeply religious character 
would justify its being regarded as a tribute to his piety. He 
reigned from 138 to 161, and it is said by Gibbon and other 
writers that he never left Italy during this time. But this is 
an error, as he spent a considerable time at Antioch, which he 
enriched with magnificent buildings. The chief characteristic 
of his reign was the attention which he paid to legislation and 
administration. He gave much power to the Senate, admitted 
the best and wisest of his subjects to free intercourse with him 
or with the officers of state, and took great pains in the 
appointment of provincial officials. Deeply religious, he 



228 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. or, to 

devoted himself to recalling to life the more spiritual aspects of 
Roman worship. He restored the ritual of the Arval brothers, 
and erected the magnificent temples of Baalbec in Syria, in 
which he endeavoured to find a home for the spiritual aspira- 
tions of that country, which had suffered a severe blow in the 
destruction of Jerusalem. Like other excellent emperors, he 
distrusted Christianity, regarding it as a socially disintegrating 
and a politically subversive force ; but he sought to weaken its 
influence, not by persecution, but by establishing what he 
believed to be a purer and more wholesome religion in its place. 
After a reign of twenty-three years, he died at the age of 
seventy in his country villa at Lorium. Perhaps an historian 
will arise who will rescue his personality from the shadow 
which has been thrown upon it by the brilliancy of the emperors 
who came before and after him. 

He was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius, the celebrated philo- 
sopher, whose Meditations are amongst the best known religious 
books of the world. During the nineteen years 
Marcus of his reign, from 161 to 180, he followed in the 
footsteps of his predecessors. He imposed legis- 
lation, reduced expenditure, encouraged morality, and showed 
especial devotion in alleviating the effects of natural calamities, 
such as floods, earthquakes, famine, and pestilence. He is, 
however, reckoned as a persecutor of the Christians. He was 
unfortunate in the choice of an adopted brother, Lucius Yerus, 
who was chiefly employed in fighting against the Parthians. 
His reign was afflicted by the Marcomannic War, in which the 
tribes of the Danube, both Germans and Sarmatians, made 
a combined invasion into the Roman empire. Other German 
invaders also threatened the imperial frontiers, and Marcus 
Aurelius was compelled to cross the Alps three times to repel 
them. In the second of these campaigns he traversed the 
frozen Danube, and gained a victory over the Quadi with the 
help of the Legio Fulminatrix, the Thundering Legion. In the 
third campaign, he was preparing to restore the fortifications 
on the Danube begun by Hadrian, when he died at Vienna on 
March 17, 180, leaving the empire to his unworthy son Corn- 
modus. The column erected to commemorate his victories stands 
before the Italian Parliament House in Rome. Commodus 
knew no better way of delivering himself from the Germans 
than by proclaiming peace. With the death of Marcus Aurelius 
the series of great emperors comes to an end, until it is re- 
vived by Septimius Severus, Diocletian, and Constantine, 



a.d. 337] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 229 

Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina, became 
emperor at the age of nineteen, and reigned for twelve years, 
from 181 to 192. After having established peace 
upon the Danube, he entered Rome amid the 
joyful shouts of the army and the people, a fine handsome man, 
the first emperor born in the purple. For the first three years 
of his reign his hands were unstained with blood, but he had 
really a weak and timid nature ; and as soon as he began to 
give way to sensual enjoyment, against which his father had 
expressly warned him, his character changed, and he became 
lustful and cruel. It is said that he was deeply affected by 
an attempt upon his life. Eventually he devoted himself 
entirely to the exercises of the circus, and it is said that he 
killed 735 animals with his own hand. This passionate de- 
votion to the practice of the athletics of those days did not 
prevent his shameful excesses from becoming gradually worse ; 
while he persecuted, and even put to death, those who 
attempted to restrain him, or whose lives were a reproach to 
his own. At last he perished, on New Year's morning, 193, the 
day on which he was to have entered upon his consulship in 
the dress of a gladiator. It is said that his mistress Marcia 
attempted to poison him, and that, when this failed, he was 
strangled by Narcissus. When he died he was considered to 
be the best archer and the handsomest man in Rome, and 
a doubter may ask how this physical excellence was compatible 
with the sexual excesses which were laid to his charge. 

On the same night, Pertinax was summoned to the throne. 

The son of a Ligurian wood merchant, he had raised himself 

to the highest position in the army and the „ ,. 

P6rtin3,x 
government. He was a senator full of virtues, 

public and private, and set himself to the reform of the state. 
But the Praetorians wanted no reform, and they attacked 
him in his palace and slew him. He died at the age of sixty- 
seven, having reigned eighty-seven days. The head of the 
murdered emperor was brought to the praefect of the city, 
Sulpicius, who was in the Praetorian camp. He immediately 
offered to buy the crown for 5000 drachmae, but Didius 
Julianus, a distinguished civil servant, outbid him with (3250 
drachmae. Sulpicius was allowed to depart with his life. But 
the choice of the Praetorians was not accepted by the<Roman 
world, and there were other claimants to the vacant throne 
— Clodius Albinus in Britain, Pescennius Niger in Syria, 
and Septimius Severus in Illyria. The last mentioned won the 



230 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 96 to 

prize. He reached Rome at the beginning of June 193, and was 
met by the news that Didius had been murdered in the palace. 
Septimius Severus reigned for eighteen years, from 193 to 
211. The first action of his reign was to dismiss the Praetorian 

Guard. He then had to conquer his two rivals. 
Severus US "^" e was a S 00 ^ 1'uler, but was too much of a 

military tyrant. He depressed the power of the 
Senate, and showed little regard for learning or science. 
He surrounded his person with a bodyguard of 50,000 
soldiers, chosen from all the provinces of the empire. He 
conducted several campaigns in the East, and invaded Meso- 
potamia and Arabia. A triumphal arch to commemorate these 
achievements still exists in the Roman Forum. He spent a 
long time in Syria and Egypt, and, in 208, undertook an 
expedition to Britain, accompanied by his two sons, Caracalla 
and Geta. He crossed the wall of Hadrian, fought against the 
Picts and Scots, and penetrated to the farthest extremity of 
the island, clearing forests and draining marshes, till, worn out 
with labour and troubled by the dissensions of his two sons, he 
died at York on February 4, 211, at the age of sixty-five. 
When the Senate heard of his decease, they said that Severus 
either never ought to have been born or should never have 
died. 

His two sons had been created Caesars during their father's 
lifetime, and were now recognised as joint-emperors. But they 

hated each other, and lived in different parts of 

C/3 T3 03,11 3 > 

the vast palace on the Palatine, carefully shutting 
up all means of access between them. Caracalla, however, 
whose real name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, succeeded in 
murdering his brother just a year after his father's death, it is 
said in the apartments of his mother, Julia Domna, who had 
invited them there for the purpose of reconciliation. Caracalla 
was a cruel tyrant, as he looks in his portraits, many of which 
exist. He left Rome a year after his brother's death, never to 
return. His deeds of violence and lust are scarcely credible, 
but the account of his murdering the whole of the promising 
young men of Alexandria rests upon the authority of Herodian, 
who was a respectable historian. From Alexandria he went to 
Antioch and Mesopotamia, and won the title of Parthicus from 
his exploits against the Parthians, which were not very creditable 
to him. Under him, Abgarus, the last king of Edessa, was sent 
to Rome in chains ; his country became a Roman province, and 
his capital a colony. We must not forget that Caracalla' s 



a.d. 337] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 231 

reign was illustrated by the great jurists Papinian, Paulus, 
and Ulpian, and that he has the credit of having given the 
standing of Roman citizens to all the free in- Extension of 
habitants of the empire, which is the most notable Roman 
event of his reign. The Roman empire now Citizenship, 
became, for the first time, a consolidated government, and every 
position in it was open to the ambition of every free inhabitant. 
However, he met with the usual fate, and, on April 8, 217, 
was treacherously murdered by Martialis at the instance of his 
chief confidant, Macrinus. Three days later, Macrinus became 
emperor, and associated with him his son Diadumenianus, a 
handsome boy, as Caesar. 

The Roman world was now exposed to a curious destiny. 
Julia Domna, the mother of Caracalla, heard of her son's death 
in the camp of Antioch, and immediately put an end to her life. 
Her sister, Julia Maesa, had removed from Antioch to Emesa, 
a town in Syria, now known as Horns, not far from Baalbec, 
taking with her her two widowed daughters, Soaemis and 
Mamaea, and their sons. The son of the first of these, Bassianus, 
a handsome boy of low moral character, was made priest 
of the temple of the Sun, with the title of Elagabalus. Maesa, 
with little regard for the character of her daughter, gave the 
soldiers who were quartered in the neighbourhood to understand 
that Elagabalus was the natural son of Caracalla, 
and, on May 16, 218, he was saluted as emperor E^|eror" US 
with the title of Antoninus. Their choice was 
accepted by the whole of Syria, except by the Praetorians, who 
were faithful to Macrinus. A battle was fought in the neigh- 
bourhood of Antioch, where the Praetorians were defeated, 
apparently by the cowardly flight of Macrinus, and the position 
of Elagabalus was secured. The first act of the new emperor 
was to put Macrinus to death, together with his son, Diadu- 
menianus, who was ten years old. Elagabalus reigned for four 
years, and presents one of the most difficult problems in Roman 
history. It is said that he combined the effeminate vices of 
Syria with the cruelty and extravagance of a Roman, the passions 
of a voluptuary with a fanaticism of a priest. It is difficult to 
disentangle the truth and falsehood of his reign. The falsehood 
is not worth repeating, and the truth is impossible to discover. 
The affairs of the empire were administered by his mother, and 
it is said that she had a seat in the Senate. The cousin of 
Elagabalus, the son of Mamaea, had been carefully educated 
and was of excellent character. He was elevated to the rank 



232 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 96 to 

of (Jaesar. Eventually, we know not exactly how, Elagabalus 
was killed, together with his mother, on March 10, 222, and 
Alexander, who bore the name, not altogether appropriate 
to his character, of Severus, was accepted as emperor by the 
Praetorians. 

It is said that during his reign the power rested chiefly in the 

hands of his mother, Mamaea, who, on the whole, governed 

well, but neither she nor her son were able to 

Severus* 61 " kee P tlie -P raetorian s in check. The most im- 
portant event was that in 226, Ardscher, a name 
corresponding to Artaxerxes, a man of obscure origin, rose 
against the Roman suzerainty, and founded the new Persian 
The New empire of the Sassanidae. Artaxerxes died in 
Persian 240, and was succeeded by his son, Sapor, who 

Empire. was a worthy successor. Severus, after fighting 
against the Persians in the East, undertook a campaign upon 
the Rhine, and was murdered, with his mother, at Mainz, on 
March 19, 235. 

He was succeeded by Maximin, a Thracian, and half a 

barbarian, a strong man with an iron will, admired by the 

soldiers, but without any education, and imner- 

Ty| o V1TT11T1 . 

fectly acquainted with the Latin tongue. With 
him began a new epoch in the history of Rome. The empire 
was governed by the army, who knew no fatherland but their 
camp, no laws but the orders of their general, no influence but 
fear. The soldiers were now masters of the world. Whatever 
may be the truth or falsehood about Maximin's career, there is 
no doubt that he was unfit to reign. He was killed during the 
siege of Aquileia, in 238, after a reign of three years, and was 
succeeded by Marcus Antonius Gordianus, a boy 
of fourteen, whose grandfather and uncle had 
conducted a rising against Maximin in Africa. He reigned for 
six years, and turned out better than might have been expected, 
chiefly by the influence of bis tutor, Timesitheus, whose daughter 
he married. After Timesitheus' death, Philip, an Arabian from 
Bostra, became commander of the Praetorians, and soon suc- 
ceeded in murdering Gordian, then nineteen years of age, on 
the banks of the Euphrates, where his tomb was long an 
object of admiration in the road between Circesium and 
Ctesiphon. 

About the five years' reign of Philip the Arabian (244-249), 
who succeeded Gordian, we have no knowledge whatever, except 
that in 248, after the return from the East, he celebrated the 



a.d. 337] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 233 

so-called Secular games which had been previously celebrated by 
Augustus. In the Museum of the Baths of Diocletian at Rome, 
a sculptured tablet is preserved, which was found in 
the Tiber, forming a sort of play bill or programme Arabian, 
of Augustus' games; it contains the amazing line, 
"Carmen composuit Quintus Horatius Flaccus" (a hymn was 
composed by Quintus Horatius Flaccus), a con- 
temporary reference to the well-known Carmen (j a !L e g CU ar 
Seculare, which school-boys had to learn by heart 
fifty years ago. On that occasion, mystic sacrifices were celebrated 
on the banks of the Tiber, and for three nights the Campus 
Martius, illuminated by lamps and torches, resounded with music 
and dancing. Similar scenes took place in the games as revived 
by Philip ; choruses of young men and maidens of the noblest 
families celebrated in solemn hymns the virtue, good fortune, 
and majesty of Rome, a sharp contrast with the horrors which 
we have been narrating. However, the fact that the records of 
Philip are so scanty shows that there was little scandal to relate 
about him. 

The reign of Decius, who succeeded him, and who occupied 
the throne for two years (249 to 251), was notable for a general 
rising of the Germans from the Danube and the Decius 
Rhine to the Alps and the Pyrenees, to which he and his 
himself fell a victim. We find among them the Successors. 
Allemanni, a composite but brave tribe, bearing the name of 
Allmen and giving the appellation by which their country and 
their own people are known in France at the present day. We 
find also the Franks, who gave their name to 
France, the Saxons, and the Goths. These invaders I jfi a a -o ia f' 
crossed the Roman wall, and penetrated beyond 
the Alps, laid waste Gaul and Spain, plundered Thrace, Mace- 
don, and Greece. The efforts to resist them, as well as the re- 
cently revived Persians, occupied the attention of the emperors 
who succeeded Decius — Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian, Gallienus, 
and Claudius II. — for the next nineteen years, 251 to 270, 
when we reach the reign of Aurelian, 270 to 275, who received 
the title of the Restorer of the empire. 

Aurelian, the son of a poor farmer, was born at Sirmium on 
the Save. He surrendered Dacia to the Goths, but succeeded 
in driving the Germans across the Rhine, and Aurelian 
compressed and kept within limits the new restores the 
Sassanian Persians. But his chief glory was in Empire. 
subduing Zenobia, the heroic queen who had founded a powerful 



234 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 96 to 

empire at Palmyra in the desert. Her dominions included 

Syria, a large portion of Asia Minor, and part of Egypt ; and she 

was attempting new conquests when Aurelian 

t^v.- ° marched against her, defeated her at Antioch and 
Zenobia, _ & . > . . _ , 

JtLimesa, and besieged her m her capital, She tied, 

but was captured, and decorated a Roman triumph. Such a scene 
had rarely been witnessed, even in Rome. The procession was 
led by twenty elephants, by a string of panthers, lions, leopards, 
giraffes, and other strange animals ; then followed eight hun- 
dred pairs of gladiators destined for contests in the amphi- 
theatre ; prisoners from all nations in their national dress, 
their hands bound behind their backs, the women dressed as 
Amazons. Tables bearing their names and countries were 
carried before them. Last of all came Zenobia, the queen of 
the East, with fetters of gold on her hands and feet, her dress 
covered with such a weight of precious stones that she could 
scarcely support it, while a Persian slave led her by a golden 
chain. She walked proudly before Aurelian's chariot, which 
had belonged to the king of the Goths and was drawn by 
four stags. Aurelian introduced into Rome the worship of 
Baal, the sun-god, the great divinity of the East, whose 
priest Elagabalus had been at Emesa, and for whose worship 
Antoninus Pius had erected the wonderful temple at Baalbec, 
and it remained the religion of the imperial house till the 
reign of Constantine. 

Aurelian was succeeded by the excellent Probus (276 to 282), 

who restored the discipline of the army, defended the frontiers of 

the Danube and the Rhine against the incursions 

of the Germans, and brought order into the East 

by successful warfare, but after a beneficent reign of six years 

was murdered by his soldiers in Pannonia. He 

was succeeded by Cams, a man of sixty years old, 

who had risen against him, but who, with his two sons Carinus 

and Numerianus, soon suffered a similar fate. 

Now comes upon the scene the great Diocletian, who reigned 
from 284 to 305, and deserves an honourable place among the 
. restorers and the wielders of the Roman power. 

ioc e lan. jj g wag k orn a ^ Di oc i ea in Dalmatia, of humble 
origin, his mother being a slave; but when he achieved power 
he gave an entirely new character to the Roman polity. He 
did away with all republican forms and privileges in Italy, and 
made himself an autocratic ruler. He abolished the distinction 
between the fiscus and the aerarium, the two treasuries of the 



a.d. 337] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 235 

state and the emperor, so that all taxes were paid into the 
same fund. Besides organising finance, he reformed legal pro- 
cedure and favoured learning and science. He 
wielded autocratic authority with ability and power B gJ a uj!fL 
for more than twenty years, but he exaggerated the 
divine character of his position and gave his court an oriental 
character. His great work, however, was the organisation of the 
government of the empire on a new basis of administration, 
which, though necessary for the power, impaired the authority 
of Rome and paved the way for the transference of the capital 
to Constantinople. He first raised his friend 
Maximian to an equality with himself, committing t ^ V1 r; 10n > e 
to him the charge of the West, with Milan as his 
capital ; while he took charge of the East, fixing his capital at 
ISTicomedia. He then went further, and associated Constantius 
Chlorus with Maximian as ruler of the West with the title of 
Caesar, and took to himself Galerius in a similar position for 
the East. Galerius conquered the Persians, took five provinces 
away from them, and compelled them to surrender Mesopotamia. 
It was natural that a ruler of this arbitrary character should 
not be favourable to Christianity, and the name of Diocletian is 
associated with the last and most serious persecution of the 
Christian religion, which is, however, as much to be attributed 
to Galerius as to himself. Having exhibited to the world the 
splendour of a strong and wise ruler, and having erected the 
fabric of an efficiently organised government to control the 
known world, to the surprise of all men he abdicated his office 
and retired to Salona on the Dalmatian coast. There he lived 
in retirement for nine years, having built for himself a palace 
of such size and magnificence that it affords ample room for the 
modern town. 

His work, however, did not last, but was followed by a period 
of confusion, in which there were sometimes four and sometimes 
six emperors, and which could only be brought to 
an end by one prevailing over the others. After a*" u° 
the murder of Maximian and the death of Gale- 
rius, there were two emperors in the East and two in the 
West. Of the latter one was Maxentius, the son of Maximian, 
and the other Constantine the Great. Constantine, the son 
of Constantius Chlorus, had been proclaimed by the soldiery 
at York on his father's death, and, like Constantius, he protected 
the Christians from persecution, though he supported the old 
worship from reasons of state. He speedily quarrelled with 



236 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 96 to 

Maxentius, who claimed sole authority in the "West. Twice he 

defeated his rival, and then the decisive battle was fought, on 

Battle of October 28, 312, at Saxa Rubra, not far from the 

the Milvian Milvian Bridge, now the Ponte Milvio, a few miles 

Bridge. from Rome. Maxentius was completely defeated, 

and was drowned in the Tiber. Constantine's first use of his 

victory was to destroy the Praetorian camp, which had been 

the stronghold of Maxentius, and to issue an edict of toleration 

under which every one was permitted to follow any form of 

religion he pleased, thus relieving the Christians from any fear 

of further persecution. 

Oonstantine was now sole emperor of the West. Licinius, 
defeating his colleague Maximin, who attacked him while 
Constantine celebrating his marriage with Constantine's sister, 
Emperor of soon became sole emperor in the East. Then 
the West. Constantine and Licinius quarrelled, and Licinius 
was compelled to surrender his possessions in Em-ope with the 
exception of Thrace and Eastern Moesia. For some time 
Constantine endured a joint rule with his elderly but still 
vigorous brother-in-law ; but it was obvious that such an arrange- 
ment could not continue with a man of Constantine's temper, 
so that, after defeating him by land at Adrianople, by sea at 
Chalcedon, and finally at Nicomedia, he had him executed. So, 
in 325, Constantine became master of the whole Roman 
empire, and in the same year issued an edict in 
Emneror which he declared Christianity to be the only 
true religion, but at the same time tolerated 
paganism. The masterful and even despotic nature of Con- 
stantine led him to consider himself the founder of a new 
era, and he could best give effect to this by establishing a new 
capital. Rome had ceased to be the residence of the emperors ; 
Diocletian had neglected it, and even raised Milan to be a rival 
to it, and Constantine seldom occupied the great palace on the 
Capitol. With great insight he chose a spot perhaps too well 
adapted by nature to be the capital of an empire, where 
Byzantium, united with and yet divided from the Mediterranean 
by the Bosphorus and with the Black Sea by the Propontis, 
possesses an unrivalled harbour in the Golden Horn, and 
secures for itself at the same time an impregnable 
f eW «l d™ 6 position and a staple for the exchange of mer- 
chandise of West and East. The first stone of 
the New Rome was laid on November 4, 326, and it was conse- 
crated as the capital on May 11, 330. It is not necessary to 



ad. 3371 THE ROMAN EMPIRE 237 

describe its magnificent buildings, most of which have been 
destroyed, but it is desirable to give some account of the new 
organisation of the government which led to what is known as 
the Byzantine empire, and lasted for more than a thousand 
years. 

The emperor became invested with absolute power without 
any limits. His person was clothed with a sacred and divine 
majesty, the external signs of which were the 
purple robe introduced by Diocletian, the diadem tine Empire 
and nimbus adopted by Constantine, and the 
ceremony of adoration. The emperor was superior to all laws, 
or rather he was the law incarnate. His official title was 
Dominus, and all the inhabitants of the empire were his 
subjects and his slaves. The system invented by Diocletian 
(284 to 305) implied the simultaneous reign of two Augusti and 
two Caesars. The two Augusti were equal, and laws were made 
in the name of both. The empire was divided in order to 
facilitate the administration of that enormous mass — Rome and 
Constantinople, as the New Rome was henceforth called, being 
the two capitals of the West and the East. This arrangement 
was finally consolidated by the Emperor Theodosius in 395, 
but, till the destruction of the Western empire in 476, the 
two empires were considered to be parts of a single whole, and 
the two emperors were colleagues. Although the Caesar 
generally succeeded the Augustus to whom he was attached, 
the empire was not hereditary in state law. The Caesar could 
not succeed to the throne without the recognition of the army 
and the decree of the Senate. The institution of the emperor 
was accompanied by great solemnities. The new sovereign was 
raised upon a shield, after the German fashion, and, in the 
Eastern division, after the Emperor Leo I. (457), he was 
crowned by the patriarch. Immediately after his installation, 
he addressed a manifesto to the capital, in which he promised 
a just and beneficent reign. The power and importance of the 
emperor were extended to his family. The oath of fidelity was 
taken not only to the emperor but to the empress, and all the 
members of the imperial family received the title of Most 
Noble. The emperor was the source of legislation and judicial 
power ; he had sovereign authority over the civil, military, and 
financial administration of his dominions. 

The emperor was assisted in the duties of government by a 
council of state called a consistory and by the quaestor of the 
sacred palace. The staff of the palace was under the control 



238 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 96 to 

of the master of the offices, while the personal service of 
the emperor was under the orders of the provost of the 
The New sacred bedchamber. The civil administration 
Bureau- of the empire was committed to six high func- 
cracy. tionaries, the prefect of the city for the two 

capitals, and four praetorian prefects for the four great divisions 
of the empire. Finance was committed to two officers, the 
count of the sacred largesses, who had control of the public 
treasury, and the count of private affairs, who kept the 
emperor's purse. Civil servants, whose numbers were enor- 
mous, were nominated by the Emperor on the recommendation 
of a member of the Senate, and were appointed for one year 
only, but their tenure might be prolonged. The etiquette 
to be observed by the officials between themselves and towards 
the emperor was regulated with the utmost minuteness. All 
these officials received carefully distinguished titles of honour. 
First came the patricius, after Constantine a dignity personal 
and for life. He held the first place after the acting consuls, 
and before the praetorian prefects. Then came the order of 
counts, or comites, which was organised in definite ranks and 
was not uncommon. Officials of senatorial rank were called 
clarissimi, a title which still survives in the title of Serene 
Highness. The equites were at first called perfectissimi or 
egregii, but the title of egregius disappeared and perfectissimus 
was restricted, and all received the appellation of clarissimi. 
Soon, however, there grew up three ranks among the claris- 
simi — one clarissimus et illustris, another clarissimus et spectabilis, 
and a third clarissimus alone. To the first class belonged the 
praetorian prefects, the prefect of the city, the quaestor of 
the sacred palace, the master of the offices, the provost of 
the sacred bedchamber, the count of the sacred largesses, the 
count of private affairs, the master of the soldiers, and the 
counts of the bodyguards. It is not necessary to enumerate 
the divisions of the other classes. 

We will now turn to the methods of legislation. All imperial 

laws and constitutions were prepared by the quaestor of the 

sacred palace in concert with the other proceres 

T ". ? f.° or nobles, and, after 446, submitted to the con- 
Legislation. ' ' ' 

sideration ot the Senate or the capital. They 
were then discussed in the imperial consistory, and finally 
draughted in the imperial scrinia or offices. They were then 
signed with purple ink with the emperor's divine hand, and 
countersigned by the quaestor of the sacred palace, The laws 



a.d. 337] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 239 

were recited in the Senate and published in the whole of the 
empire. Besides the laws and constitutions there were imperial 
rescripts, which were sent in answer to the questions of officials 
or private persons, drawn up by the quaestor of the sacred 
palace, and signed by the emperor with purple ink. When 
they were addressed to corporations, communes, or provinces, 
or when they concerned public affairs, they were called 
pragmatic sanctions, a term which meets us occasionally in 
the history of the German empire. It was evident that these 
laws should receive codification, and so, in the year 429, Theo- 
dosius II. appointed a commission of nine members to collect 
all the constitutions published since Constantine, and to arrange 
them according to their contents, chronological order being ob- 
served. In 436 the same duty was entrusted to a new com- 
mission of sixteen members, and in 438 the collection was 
published in the official code of the East, the same collection 
being also sanctioned and published by Valentinian III. in 
the West. 

The imperial consistory was the council of state which 
assisted the emperor in the general administration of the 
government. Its duties were very various. In The 
the presence of the consistory the emperor gave Imperial 
solemn audiences and promulgated laws : it assisted Consistory, 
the emperor to administer justice and deliberated before him 
on important matters of general administration. The minutes 
of the proceedings of this consistory were carefully kept. 
During the audience the police of the palace was kept by 
thirty officers called silentiaries, a title which occurs not in- 
frequently in Byzantine history. The civil and The 
military household of the emperor was elabor- Emperor's 
ately organised under the orders of the master Household, 
of the offices. There were, besides the general attendants of 
a court, the couriers, who executed the commissions of the 
emperor in the provinces ; mensores, who prepared a camp 
for the emperor during his progresses ; the comes stabuli, the 
count of the stable, the origin of the modern constable, whose 
duty it was to examine and approve the horses which were 
bound to be furnished for the emperor's journeys ; the link 
bearers ; the decani or deans, who commandeered property for 
the emperor's use; the cancellarii or chancellors, who assisted 
at the judicial sittings with their numerous clerks. The master 
of the offices was expected to maintain discipline in the palace, 
and had civil and criminal jurisdiction over his subordinates. 



240 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. or to 

As time went on, the power of the master of the offices became 
more important, and paved the way for the mayor of the palace 
in later times. The private service of the emperor was made 
the work of the provost of the sacred bedchamber, or grand 
chamberlain. The Praetorian Guard, whose numbers had been 
reduced by Diocletian, was entirely suppressed by Constantine, 
and its place was taken by a mounted and unmounted body- 
guard called domestici or protectores. They were highly paid, 
and had numerous privileges, and were recruited from the 
centurions and young men of senatorial rank. They were 
less numerous than the body of men called scolares, but were 
superior in rank. 

Constantine instituted a complete separation between the 
civil and military functions of the government, giving the civil 

Government administration to the praetorian prefect and the 

of Constan- charge of the army to the master of the soldiers. 

tinople. He raised Constantinople to the rank of the 

capital of the East, divided it into fourteen regions, and gave 
it a similar government to that of Rome. Like Rome, it was 
governed by a prefect of the city, who immediately represented 
the emperor, being nominated by him from men of senatorial and 
consular rank. In the Senate, he gave his opinion before the 
consulares, and after the time of Justinian presided over it. 
He gave a report about the deliberations of the Senate every 
month to the emperor, and transmitted to him the wishes of 
the Senate and the people. All the administrative officials of 
the emperor were subject to him — he was the culmen urbanum, 
the summit of the city. The principal officers under the prefect 
of the city were the prefect of the market, who was charged with 
the provisioning of the city — Rome's principal supplies of corn 
coming from Carthage, Constantinople, and Alexandria — and 
the praefectus vigilum, who was head of the police. There was 
also at Rome and at Constantinople a public system of higher 
education. Professors were nominated by the Senate, who 
fixed their salaries, and after twenty years' service accorded 
them the rank of comes. 

By the side of this municipal administration, Rome remained 

the seat of the ancient Senate, the Consulate, the Praetorship 

and the Quaestorship, institutions which had 

Republic ** survived the fall of the republic, and, when 

Byzantium was raised to the rank of the second 

capital, it received a Senate after the model of Rome, as 

well as Quaestors and Praetors, while the Consulate was divided 



ad. 337] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 241 

between the two capitals. But these offices had become mere 
honorary distinctions without real power, and the Senate had 
fallen to the rank of a quasi-municipal institution, without 
authority over the rest of the empire. The only duties left to 
the members of this famous body were the care of games and 
matters concerning their own order, although the emperor some- 
times consulted them about the crime of high treason and other 
judicial matters, and sometimes brought new laws before their 
notice. At the same time the Senate occupied a high place in 
the empire, and formed its nobility. The distinction of mem- 
bership was acquired either by inheritance or by favour, and 
carried with it the title of clarissinms. It involved subjection to 
certain charges, but also the enjoyment of certain privileges. 
The consuls were still considered the highest officers of the 
state, but their duties were confined to presiding over the 
Senate. They were nominated by the emperor, and their 
names were published all over the empire so as to serve for 
the designation of the year. There were sometimes one consul 
in each capital, and sometimes two consuls in either. The 
praetors and quaestors were expected to exhibit games at 
their own expense, so that the tenure of the office was a con- 
siderable charge. 

The empire was now divided into four great praefectures, 
each governed by a praetorian praefect. The two praefectures 
of the Eastern Empire were called Oriens and Adminis- 
Illyria, those of the West, Italy and The Gauls, trative 
Each praefecture contained a certain number Divisions, 
of dioceses, and each diocese was divided by Diocletian into a 
certain number of provinces of small extent, the diocese of 
Italy containing seventeen provinces. At the head of each diocese 
was a governor generally called vicarius, at the head of each 
province a rector. Each province had also a capital called urbs, 
or metropolis, which was the residence of the governor and the 
seat of the administration. The rectors made frequent tours 
through their provinces. They also were compelled to remain 
in them fifty clays after the expiration of their office, in order 
to be able to answer any complaints which might be brought 
against them. The emperor also received direct information 
about the state of the provinces, by means of a secret police 
called curiosi. The provincial assemblies which previously 
existed were not abolished under the monarchy. The provinces 
were further divided into communes, their territory being 
composed of pagi and vici,pagus representing a tract of country 

Q 



242 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 96 to 

and incus a village. The Italian name for a country village, 

paese, is derived from par/us, as is also the term pagan. The 

communal nobles were called decemvirs, and the dignity was 

hereditary. To be a decemvir was a heavy charge, and persons 

did their utmost to be relieved from it. 

We see that the Roman government, as existing under the 

monarchy, was a highly centralised organisation, governed by 

a bureaucracy with the emperor at its head. It was, on the 

whole, efficient and just, and it is a mistake to suppose that the 

new races when they came in substituted a vigorous rule for an 

effete system. On the contrary, they could not have founded 

a government at all if they had not borrowed their institutions 

from Rome. An interesting institution found in Italy and 

_ _ , . elsewhere is that of the coloniate, consisting of 
The Coloni. £ , , e , • x> -J.- 

tree men capable ot becoming Koman citizens, 

but bound indissolubly to the soil, and passing with the sale of 
the soil to a new proprietor. They held their land at a fixed 
rent, paid either in money or in kind according to the custom of 
the property. Their rent could not be raised by the proprietor, 
nor could he sell his land without them. They were subject 
to a poll tax, which was collected by the proprietor and trans- 
mitted by him to the governor, and they supplied most of the 
recruits which their proprietors were bound to furnish. The 
colonies exist, almost unchanged, in many parts of Italy at the 
present day. Under the new regime the condition of the slaves 
was much improved, and Constantine deprived their masters of 
the power of life and death. Indeed Christianity was a most 
powerful influence in first alleviating the lot of the slaves and 
then abolishing slavery altogether. During this time there was 
a constant influx of barbarians into the empire, but we hear 
little about their legal condition, except that they were not 
allowed to intermarry with citizens. 

In the Easter week of 337, Constantine fell ill. When he 
found that remedies did not avail him, he became a catechumen 

and on his death-bed received the sacrament of 
Cc> a ta°f ne baptism from the hands of Eusebius, who was 

an Arian. His character has been so differently 
depicted by Christians and pagans that it is difficult to estimate 
it correctly. There can be no doubt that he behaved with 
extreme cruelty to his excellent son Crispus, and that he 
delayed the determination to declare himself a Christian as 
long as he could, because he wished to derive all possible 
advantages from the antagonism of the two religions. We 



ad. 337] THE ROMAN EMPIRE 243 

may also conclude that his public recognition of Christianity 
was rather a political than a religious measure. It was better 
to bring so powerful an organisation under the control of the 
state than to leave it as an independent force. He died at the 
age of sixty-five, having been emperor for thirty years of his 
memorable life. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

HISTORY OF EUROPE, 337-5G5 A.D. 

Constantine left behind him three sons, Constantinns II., who 

died in 340 — Constans, who died in 350 — Constantins, who died in 

rp h a f 361, and two daughters, Constantia, who married 

Constantine Hannibalianns, and Helena, who married Julian. 

— Partition He divided the empire between them, setting an 

of the example of partition which was afterwards abun- 

Empire. clantly followed, giving Constantius the East with 

Thrace, Constantinus the West, and Constans Africa, Italy, 

and Western lllyria. They rapidly became furious enemies of 

each other, which resulted in the death of two of them, and in 

353 Constantius united the whole empire under his sceptre. 

He found, however, that the task of repelling enemies both on 

the east and on the west was too much for him, so, while he 

fought against the Persians without success, Julian, his cousin 

and brother-in-law, whom he had made Caesar, saved Gaul, by 

Julian's defeating the Allemanni and the Franks at 

Victory at Strasburg in 357. He drove the invaders across 

Strasburg. the Rhine, but allowed the Salian Franks to 

settle in Belgium. Constantius, jealous of Julian's success, 

ordered nine of his legions to join him in the East to repel the 

Persians, but they refused, and saluted Julian as emperor. 

Constantius set out on the march against him, but died on the 

journey at Tarsus in Cilicia. 

It was not unnatural that Julian, with such examples before 
him, should conceive a hatred of Christianity, and prefer the 
Reign of philosophy of Neoplatonism, and indeed, during 

Julian "the his short reign, which only lasted two years, from 
Apostate." 361 to 363, he did all that he could to destroy 
Christianity as an established religion and to substitute for it 
the more spiritual aspects of paganism. He is therefore known 
as the Apostate. His first act on arriving at Constantinople as 
emperor was to open the temples and restore the altars, to pro- 
claim toleration for all religions, to recall the Jews to Jerusalem, 

244 



a.d. 337-5615] HISTORY OF EUROPE 245 

and to rebuild their temple. He did not, however, persecute the 
Christians, as some of his predecessors had done. He assumed 
the office of pontifex maxim us as head of the pagan religion. 
Every day, with his own hands, he offered a sacrifice both to the 
rising and to the setting sun — indeed, the sun Baal, the visible 
source of all light, life, and energy, had always been the rival 
of the unseen God who created it. He attempted to reform the 
priesthood, and to remove from paganism the charge of sensu- 
ality. In all these measures, the philosopher Libanius was his 
adviser, friend, and assistant. He naturally threw scorn on 
the Galilean and his fishermen apostles, and he could not restore 
the temples and bring back the priests without injuring the 
churches and those who served in them. But, on the whole, he 
left the Christian sects to their dissensions, and their disciples 
to their poverty. He met with some opposition in Antioch, 
where he brought back the worship of Apollo to the laurel grove 
of Daphne, and turned out the bones of Christian martyrs. 

It became, however, necessary that he should defend the 
frontiers of the empire, and that he should treat the Persians as 
he had already treated the Allemanni and the Persian 
Franks. He therefore set out from Antioch for Campaign, 
this purpose in the spring of 363. He advanced and Death, 
beyond the Tigris, and reached the neighbourhood of Ctesiphon ; 
but from this place he was obliged to retreat, followed by a 
swarm of mounted enemies from whom it was difficult to escape. 
He exhibited the greatest bravery and energy, but, as in the 
heat of the clay he had laid aside his breastplate, a spear pierced 
him and he died. According to the famous story he grasped 
a handful of blood from his wound, and throwing it up to 
heaven, cried, " Thou has conquered, Galilean ! " 

Julian was succeeded by Jovian, who made peace with the 
Persians, restored to them nearly the whole of Mesopotamia, and 
replaced the Christian religion in its former . 

place. He, however, died in 364, after less than 
a year's reign. For ten clays after Jovian's death, the empire 
remained without a head, Sallustius having refused the perilous 
position, until unanimity was secured in the election of 
Valentinian. He was the son of a Pannonian soldier, and had 
himself been brought up entirely in the camp. He 
was of majestic stature, and possessed the virtues of andValens 1 
courage, experience in war, purity of morals, 
simplicity of life, and sound practical wisdom. At the same 
time, his intellectual education was defective, and he was 



246 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 337 to 

ignorant of Greek. He was elected in Nicsea, and, choosing his 
younger brother Yalens to share the throne with him, gave him 
the care of the East, while he fixed his own capital at Milan. 
Valens was a Christian, but was devoted to the teaching of 
Alius, which did not admit that Jesus Christ was precisely on 
an equality with Gocl, and he persecuted the orthodox Athanasius 
with as much zeal as he persecuted the Arians. This caused the 
rising of Procopius, a relation of Julian, who committed the 
fatal error of calling in the Goths to assist him. The Goths, 
the ancestors of the modern Germans, who, settled on the 
northern frontier of the empire, had long served to protect it 
against the inroads of the wild Sarmatians, were divided into 
two great sections, the East Goths and the West Goths, 
generally known as the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths. At 
this time they were both under the control of a single monarch, 
called Amanrich or Hermanrich, whose authority extended from 
the Black Sea to the Baltic. They were Christians, but Arians, 
and they owed their conversion largely to Ulfilas, who had 
made a Gothic translation of the Gospels, the manuscript of 
which is still preserved at Upsala in Sweden. 

The two brothers knew no other way of preserving their 
authority or of defending the empire than that of severity and 
cruelty. It is said that Valentinian kept two bears in a den 
behind his bedroom, and that a criminal as soon as he was con- 
demned was immediately delivered to these creatures. Their 
reign, however, was illustrated by the historian Eutropius and the 
poet Ausonius, and Atheiis still remained a centre of eloquence 
and philosophy. Valentinian reigned over the "Western empire 
with success for nearly twelve years, and guarded 
Frontier ^ ie f ron ^ier of Rome on the Rhine, in Britain, 
and in Africa, while his brother Valens followed 
his example in the East. At this time the Bishop of Rome or 
Pope was Damasus, who was a great and magnificent ruler 
over the church and the city, and whose memory is still pre- 
served by the extreme beauty of those inscriptions of his which 
have survived. In this reign war was waged against the 
Allemanni, who were defeated in 366 at Chalons on the Marne. 
Valentinian was accompanied in the campaign against them 
by his son Gratian, whom he associated with him in the 
government. They also had to contend against two other 
German tribes, the Burgundians and the Saxons. While 
Valentinian was occupied on the Rhine, Britain was defended 
by Theodosius, the ablest man in that country since Agricola, 



a.d. 565] HISTORY OF EUROPE 247 

who also rescued Africa from rebellion and invasion. He was, 
however, beheaded at Carthage on the charge of high treason. 
Valentinian had also to contend against the Quadi and the 
Sarmatians, and in 375 was wintering in Pressbnrg with a 
view to recommencing the campaign in the spring ; but, on 
November 17, he died suddenly from a stroke of apoplexy. He 
was succeeded by his son Gratian, w T ho was seven- Accession of 
teen years of age ; but at the same time, Valen- Gratian and 
tinian II., a child of four years of age, the son Valentinian 
of the late emperor's second wife, Justina, was **• 
also made emperor, and Gratian was obliged to accept the 
decision. Justina went to live at Milan and Gratian at Trier. 

The year of his accession, 375, is marked as a great epoch in 
the history of the world by the crossing of the Volga by the 
Huns. It has been already said that the more The Huns 
remote parts of central Asia were at this time cross the 
the seat of a human volcano, whose eruptions Volga. 
might at any time upset the equilibrium of Europe and cause 
convulsions, the effect of which it was impossible to foretell. 
To these causes are clue the sudden invasions and devastating 
inroads which meet us in history and which seem so mysterious 
and uncontrollable. Of the Huns we do not receive a very 
attractive account. Their appearance was hideous. The habit 
of cutting their faces when young prevented the growth of hair 
and made them horrible. Strong in body, they had heads like 
animals. They possessed great powers of endurance : they fed 
on vegetables and half-raw flesh, made eatable by being placed 
under the saddles of their horses. They never entered a house. 
They were dressed in linen and in shoes which they wore until 
they dropped to pieces from old age. They never fought on 
foot, but rode on horses as ugly as themselves. They never 
left their horses night or day, but trafficked and bartered, ate 
and drank, slept and dreamed, on their backs. They even held 
their assemblies and chose their leaders on horseback. They 
fought at a distance with spears and arrows, and at close 
combat with the sword. They knew no culture of the land, no 
home or hearth, no law nor government ; their wives and 
children dwelt in waggons. They seemed to follow the impulse 
of the moment. They lived like wild animals, thinking nothing 
of vice or virtue, faith or religion. At the same time they were 
very fond of money. 

These untameable people, having first crossed the Volga and 
subdued the Alani, who dwelt between the Volga and the Don, 



248 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 337 to 

Attacked the Eastern Goths with their help, and caused the death 

of Amanrich, who was 110 years old. The consequence was 

Invasion that the East Goths were driven against the West 

of the Goths ) some of whom took refuge in the Carpa- 

Visigoths. thians, whilst others under Fridigern crossed the 

Danube into Thrace, and were allowed to settle there by Valens 

under condition that they embraced the Arian faith. But, 

infuriated by an attempt to kill their leaders by an act of 

treachery, they broke, reinforced by new swarms of Goths, 

over the passes of the Balkans, and defeated the 

a e o Emperor Yalens, who marched from the East to 

oppose them, in a decisive battle at Adrianople, 

which cost him his life. The Visigoths now swarmed over the 

whole country as far as the Julian Alps. 

When Gratian heard of this disastrous defeat and of his 
uncle's death, he hastened to Sirmium, and appointed Theo- 
Theodosius dosius, whose father's death we have before nar- 
pacifies the rated, first as commander-in-chief and then as 
Goths. Augustus. So long as Fridigern lived, Theodosius 

could effect little, but after his death he was able to set the two 
divisions of the Goths against each other. Athanaric succeeded 
in reuniting them for a short time, but after his death 
Theodosius contrived to induce the Visigoths and part of the 
Ostrogoths to become allies by treaty of the Roman people, 
and to accept land in Dacia, Moesia, and Thrace, as well as in 
Phrygia and Lydia, where they might remain at peace. With 
the help of his new allies, Theodosius was able to put down 
two usurpers — Maximus, who had been saluted as emperor by 
the legions in Britain, and who, by invading Gaul, caused the 
Deaths of death of Gratian on August 25, 383, and the 
Gratian and Frank Arbogast, who caused the death of 
Valentinian. Valentinian II., on May 15, 392. Valentinian, 
after the death of his mother, Justina, came under the influ- 
ence of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who gave him an excellent 
education, so that he acquired the reputation of being one of 
the best of the Roman emperors. 

Theodosius now united the whole of the empire under his 

single rule, and governed it in such a way that he deserves the 

Theodosius title of the " Great," which posterity accorded to 

sole him. Saint Ambrose had so much authority that 

Emperor. when Theodosius had stained his hands with the 

murder of 7000 citizens in the circus of Thessalonica, he 

refused him admission to the church until he had done 



a.d. 565] HISTORY OF EUROPE 249 

penance and received absolution. In 381, Theodosius had 
commanded a second oecumenical council at Constantinople at 
which the teaching of Arius was finally condemned, and the 
Athanasian Creed was declared binding on the churches of 
both East and West. Still the Goths, Yandals, Burgundians, 
and Lombards continued to profess the Arian faith. In 392, 
Theodosius forbade all kinds of heathen worship, and heathen- 
dom fell into disrepute. Heathen temples were closed even 
in Rome, where heathen practices had remained more ob- 
stinately than elsewhere. Theodosius enjoyed the undisputed 
rule of the united empire for only four months. In January 
395 he died at Milan, deeply mourned by Ambrose, who 
delivered over him a brilliant oration, but two years later 
followed his master to the grave. Before his Final Divi- 
death, Theodosius had again divided the empire sionofthe 
into the two sections of East and West, entrust- Empire, 
ing the East to Arcadius, who was eighteen, and the West to 
Honorius, who was eleven years of age. From this time the 
two parts of the empire followed independent destinies. 

Arcadius established his capital in Constantinople, and had 
as his chancellor first Rufinus and then Eutropius, while 
Honorius took up his abode in Ravenna, a city Arcadius 
easily defended from attack, and took as his chief and 
adviser the able Vandal Stilicho. The court of Honorius. 
Constantinople was contemptible in itself, and was rendered 
worse by the character of the consul Eutropius. It was not, 
therefore, surprising that Alaric, a man of heroic 
temper, should be raised by the Visigoths to the Career of 
position of a sovereign, should attack and lay 
waste central Greece and the Peloponnesus, and should, at last, 
in 397, be made the governor of Illyria by the court at 
Constantinople. As soon as Alaric felt himself secure in his 
new position, he determined to attack Northern Italy, and, in 
402, conquered Istria and Venetia, besieged Aquileia, and laid 
waste the rich province of Verona with fire and sword. Alaric 
had determined to find in Italy either a kingdom or a grave, 
and, while Stilicho collected troops from the 
Rhine and from the British wall, and crossed Jjjg^ 
over the Alps to rescue his master's dominions, 
Alaric attacked Milan, where he found Honorius, who at- 
tempted to escape to Gaul, but was intercepted and besieged 
at Asti on the Tanaro. But Stilicho came to the rescue, and 
on Easter Day, 403, a great battle was fought at Pollentia, not 



250 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 337 to 

of a very decisive character. Alaric was able to cross the 
Apennines to Etruria, and to approach the walls of Rome, but, 
on Stilicho's occupying Venice, he was compelled to return, 
and, after a battle fought in the autumn of 403, retired to 
Illyria. A triumph was celebrated in Rome, with games in the 
Coliseum, for the last time. It is said that on this occasion 
a monk jumped into the amphitheatre to separate the com- 
batants, but was stoned by the people, upon which Honorius 
stopped the games, and they were never resumed. After Alaric's 
invasion, Honorius fixed his court, for safety, in Ravenna. But, 
in 405, a number of German tribes, still impelled by the Huns, 
crossed the Alps and broke into Italy. They consisted of 
Vandals, Burgundians, and Sueves, supported by the Alani 
cavalry and by Goths, Rhadagais, an Ostrogoth, being their 
leader. They marched as far as Florence, which they attacked 
from the height of Fiesole ; but in 406 Rhadagais was defeated 
by Stilicho and taken prisoner, and 12,000 of his followers 
were received into the service of Rome. 

The defeated Germans were driven back into Germany, 
where they came into conflict with the Franks and Allemanni, 

Movements anc ^ finally overran Gaul, which they laid waste 

of the Ger- with deeds of horrible cruelty and destruction. 

man Tribes. The Allemanni now established themselves in 
Alsace, and the Burgundians founded a kingdom on the Rhine, 
which in the second half of the fifth century was extended to 
the Mediterranean on the south, and to the Cevennes and the 
Vosges on the west. Britain being left undefended by Roman 
troops, a certain Oonstantinus took the opportunity of raising 
the standard of revolt, and, getting assistance from Gaul and 
Spain, attempted to make himself master of Italy. 

g .„. , ° Stilicho turned for assistance to Alaric, and suc- 

ceeded in securing his services ; but just at this 
time himself fell a victim to court intrigues, and, on August 23, 
408, was dragged from a church where he had taken sanctuary, 
and slain by order of Honorius, his friends perishing with him. 

The arrangement made between Stilicho and Alaric was 

now repudiated, so that Alaric, starting from Noricum in 408, 

marched upon Rome, to which he laid siege. 

lege o jj e wag koug]^ £f by the sacrifice of masses of 

gold and silver, and costly furniture, and by the 

surrender of all the German slaves in Roman service. " What 

have you left us?" said the Romans. "Your lives," replied the 

haughty Visigoth. Alaric received 5000 pounds of gold, 30,000 



a.d. 565] HISTORY OF EUROPE 251 

of silver, besides silk, cloth, and pepper. However, in the 
following year, reinforced by 40,000 slaves of German origin, 
and swarms of Goths and Huns, led from the Danube by his 
brother-in-law Ataulf, Alaric attempted to reduce the court of 
Ravenna to submission, and, when Honorius refused to accept 
his terms, he created a new emperor in the person of Attalus. 
He returned to Rome in August 410, conquered g ac k Q ^ 
and plundered it, full as it was of every kind of Rome — 
wealth. After a six days' orgy, Alaric marched Death of 
into Campania, and, reaching the southern point Alaric 
of Italy, made preparations for passing into Sicily ; but he died 
at the age of thirty-four at Cosenza, whose walls are washed by 
the river Busento. It is said that the course of the river was 
changed, and Alaric, with his arms and treasures, deposited in its 
bed, and, when the river was brought back again into its former 
course, all the workmen were killed, in order that no one might 
know the place of his interment. He was succeeded by Ataulf, 
who at once left Italy, and in 414 married Placidia, the sister 
of Honorius. The same year, having overthrown in Gaul the 
usurper who rejected Honorius' authority, Ataulf crossed the 
Pyrenees, and conquered the north of Spain, placing his capital 
at Barcelona. Here, however, he was murdered by a servant of 
the Gothic chief, Sarus, whom he had defeated and executed 
some years before. 

Ataulf was succeeded by Wallia, who detested the Romans 
as much as his predecessor was well disposed towards them. 
Yet he made a treaty with Honorius, in accordance with which 
Placidia was sent back to Italy, and the Goths entered the 
Roman service. Placidia married Constantius, the minister 
of Honorius, to whom she bore two children, Honorius and 
Valentinian. Wallia now fought in Spain against the German 
settlers there, as the lieutenant of Rome. He defeated the 
Vandals and the Alani, and also the Goths who were settled 
in Gallicia. After three years had been spent in these wars, 
Honorius ceded to the Goths the province of Aquitaine between 
the Garonne and the Loire, with Tolosa as its capital, where 
the successor of Wallia, Theodoric, fixed his abode — a rich and 
prosperous country. Here the Goths were established for 
nearly a century in peaceful agricultural occupations. At the 
same time, the Burgundians were settled in the fertile fields 
on the Rhone, the Jura, and the upper Rhine. They became 
Christians at an early period. The Franks dwelt in the north 
of Gaul, and extended their domains from the Maas and the 



252 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 337 to 

Scheldt southwards to the Somme, and eastward to Trier on 
the Moselle, while the banks of the Rhine from Coblenz to the 
Vosges were occupied by the Allemanni, who already held the 
Black Forest and part of the Alps. The remains of their 
capital, Vindonissa, are still to be seen on the banks of the 
Aar. Armenia and Britain were left to defend themselves, and 
the absence of the Roman legions gave predominance to the 
clergy, who were obliged to take the place of the defenders of 
their country against barbarian incursions. 

In Ravenna, Constantius, the husband of Placidia, received 
the title of Augustus, but died seven months later in 421. His 

widow and her two children retired to Constanti- 
Honorius nople ; but on August 2, 421, Honorius also 

died, from dropsy. Valentinian III., a child of 
six years old, was then acknowledged by the Eastern court as 
emperor of the West, and was married to Eudoxia, the daughter 
of Theodosius II., who had succeeded his father Arcadius. 
During his long minority, Placidia acted as regent, but she 
was not equal to the task. At this time Rome possessed two 
remarkable men, Aetius and Boniface, who, if they could 
have clung together, would have saved the empire. Unfor- 
tunately, their relations were spoilt by jealousy. Boniface 
had been entrusted by Placidia with the government of Africa, 
but Aetius demanded his recall, and he raised the standard of 
rebellion, so that Aetius henceforth enjoyed the entire confidence 
of his mistress. Boniface, to defend himself, called in the aid of 

the Vandal king, Gaiseric, who crossed over into 
" Af ^ Africa in 429, and rapidly became master of the 

country. That rich province, once the granary 
of Italy, distinguished in commerce, industry, and learning, 
became a desert. Towns were destroyed, palaces plundered, 
churches robbed, priests murdered. In the midst of these 
horrors died St. Augustine, the famous Bishop of Hippo, a 
city which Boniface, repenting too late, did his best to defend 
for fourteen months. At last in 432, with the remains of 
the Roman population, he went to Ravenna, and threw him- 
self on the mercy of Placidia, who forgave him. Aetius, dis- 
gusted, marched against his rival with an army of barbarians, 
and Boniface was killed. Aetius fled to his friend Rugilas, king 
of the Huns. While the Vandal empire was firmly established 
. in Africa, Britain was left to defend itself against 

the incursions of the Picts and the Scots ; for 
this purpose, Vortigern, who ruled in south-eastern Britain, in 



a.d. 565] HISTORY OF EUROPE 253 

449, invited the aid of some Jutes, who, 1600 in number, 
crossed over to our island in three long ships, under the 
command of Hengist and Horsa, names which have been 
thought to be legendary, because they bear the meaning of 
horse and mare. After executing their instructions, they 
refused to depart. Other bands of adventurers, Angles and 
Saxons, followed them, and, after 120 years of hard fighting, had 
conquered about one half of Britain. The Britons withdrew 
into the mountains of the west, while part of them emigrated 
to the north of France, or, as Bretons, settled in Armorica, the 
Brittany of to-day. 

In the meantime, the condition of the Eastern empire had 
been no better than that of the West. Arcadius, after a reign 
of thirty years, occupied by palace quarrels, The Eastern 
oppressive government, rebellion within and Empire — 
invasions of barbarians from without, died at Theodosius 
Constantinople on May 1,408, leaving the empire n * 
to his son, Theodosius II., who was only seven years old. The 
Praefect Anthemius, a strong and competent man, held the 
reins of government for six years. Under him, Uldin, king 
of the Huns, was compelled to retire from Thrace, and the 
Scirians, a wild race, were entirely subdued. The capital was 
protected by a wall, and the Illyrian towns were secured 
against attack. The weakness of the empire was assisted by 
the talents of the emperor's sister, Pulcheria, one . 

of the few worthy descendants of Theodosius. u c eria " 
Educated in a convent to lead a pure and blameless life, she 
received the title of Augusta in 414, and not only directed the 
affairs of state, but educated her brother to fulfil his duties, so 
far as he was competent to do so. At the age of twenty, the 
emperor married Athenais, daughter of the Athenian philosopher 
Leontius, who took the name of Eudoxia. She had great 
literary gifts and led an exemplary life, but she did not agree 
with Pulcheria, and was at last compelled to retire to Palestine, 
where she died in the year 460 at the age of sixty-seven. Her 
weak and foolish husband, curiously enough, lives in history as 
the author of the Theodosian Code, published in 438, which was 
a worthy predecessor to the immortal work of Justinian. 

Half a century had now passed since the Eastern world was 
terrified by the incursion of the Huns, and they had spread 
from the Volga to the Danube. We have heard 
that King Rugilas, a friend of Aetius, had been 
settled in Pannonia, and had formed connections with the courts 



254 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 337 to 

both of Constantinople and of Ravenna. Theodosius II. gave the 
king of the Huns who were settled on the Theiss and the 
Danube the title of Roman general, and paid him a yearly 
tribute of 350 pounds of gold. The nephews of Rugilas, Attila 
and Bleda, who, after their uncle's death in 423, succeeded to 
his throne, demanded an increased tribute, and the surrender of 
the Hunnish emigrants who had taken refuge in Constanti- 
nople. On being surrendered, the most dangerous of them were 

crucified. Attila, who is known in German legend 

by the name of Etzel, murdered his brother Bleda, 
and in 444 founded the great kingdom of the Huns between the 
Danube and the Yolga. He first attacked the Eastern empire, 
laid its northern provinces waste, defeated the armies of 
Theodosius several times, and threatened Constantinople itself. 
Then, instigated by Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, who wished 
to create a diversion against a threatened attack of the Romans, 
he assumed the title of Godegisel, the Scourge of God, and 
marched upon Western Europe with an army of half a million 
warriors. In 450, he set out from his wooden palace in 
Pannonia, passed through Austria, Bavaria, and Switzerland to 
the Rhine, crossed the river at its junction with the JSTeckar, 
and defeated the Burgundian king, Gundikar (Gunther), at 
Worms. Wherever the hoofs of Attila's horse trod, the grass 
grew no more. The Roman towns were destroyed, and their 
fields laid waste, to the banks of the Loire. The dwellers in 
the fields fled, some into the towns, others into the mountains ; 
the forests were full of fugitives, who fought for their lives with 
wild beasts. The Huns now crossed the Yonne at Auxerre, and 
attacked Orleans, where they were met by Aetius and the Visi- 
goths under the aged Theodoric. Attila now retreated over the 
Seine and the Marne, followed by the united Goths and Romans, 
reinforced by the Burgundians, the Franks under Meroveus 
(Merwig), and other German tribes. The great conflict took 
place in the Catalaunian plain, which now gives its name to 

Chalons on the Marne, in the year 451, and Attila, 
Chalons ai ^er showing prodigies of valour, was defeated, 

and was only saved from destruction by the death 
of Theodoric, which distracted the Visigoths from the struggle. 
Yet he soon recovered from this disaster, and in 452 crossed 
the Julian Alps to Aquileia, the mistress of the Adriatic. 
He destroyed it so completely that a hundred years after- 
wards not a trace of it remained, while the inhabitants founded 
another home, a new water-city in the lagoons, which after- 



ad. 565] HISTORY OF EUROPE 255 

wards gave birth to Venice. Padua suffered the same fate ; 
Faenza, Verona, and Bergamo also fell victims ; while Milan 
and Parma bought off the destroyer. Aetius defended him- 
self as well as he could with small resources, and Valentinian 
took refuge in Rome. In 453, Attila was preparing to destroy 
the Eternal City, when he was diverted by the entreaties of 
Pope Leo the Great, and consented to make a treaty with 
Valentinian and to return to Pannonia. Here he shortly 
afterwards died, and the Hunnish army was broken up. 

The empire of the West did not long survive these events. 
Valentinian, in 454, the year after Attila's death, fell under the 
influence of the eunuch Heraclius, and killed 
Aetius with his own hand. In the following H e ? .? . 
year, he seduced the wife of the rich and worthy 
senator, Petronius Maximus, who caused him to be murdered 
on March 15, 455, as he was witnessing a review in the Campus 
Martius. After the death of the unworthy sovereign, Petronius 
was unanimously summoned to the vacant throne, but his reign 
was one of misery. Having lost his wife by the misconduct of 
Valentinian, he wished to strengthen his position by marrying 
Eurloxia ; but she was indignant at the suggestion, and summoned 
Gaiseric and his Vandals to avenge her murdered husband. They 
entered Rome on June 12, 455. Pope Leo again gack f 
used his intercession, and Gaiseric promised to Rome by- 
spare the churches, the private dwellings, and Gaiseric. 
the unfortunate inhabitants, but he allowed his troops liberty 
of destruction for a fortnight. It is difficult to exaggerate the 
havoc wrought during these last fourteen days of June, 455. 
Temples and statues fell in indiscriminate destruction, and then 
the Vandal fleet, laden with treasure, and carrying with it the 
Empress Eudoxia and her two daughters, sailed to Africa. 

The throne now fell to the Arvernian Avitus, equally dis- 
tinguished for learning and courage, the father-in-law of the 
poet Sidonius Apollinaris, who has left us a panegyric of him. 
Avitus was dethroned by the Suevian, Ricimer, who commanded 
a large army of Germans. Rome was helpless, and the Visi- 
gothic kingdom, under Theodoric II. and his successor Euric, was 
extended from the Loire to the Mediterranean, from the Rhine 
to the Pyrenees. Ricimer died in 472, after several emperors 
had occupied the throne, the best of whom was Majorian, and 
the last Julius Nepos. In 475 Orestes, the new barbarian 
" Patrician " in Italy, placed his own son Momylus, a boy 
of fifteen, on the throne, changing his name to Romulus. And 



256 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 337 to 

Romulus, whose title Avas significantly corrupted into Augustulus, 
was the last emperor of the West. 

In 476, Ottokar, better known as Ocloacer, a German and an 
Arian, with an army of Herulians, Rugians, and other German 
mercenaries, conquered and killed Orestes, drove Romulus from 
End of the the throne, and settled him in a country house 
Western in Campania. He then undertook the govern- 

Empire. ment of Italy in the name of the Emperor Zeno, 

requesting from him recognition as Patrician. Zeno urged the 
rights of Julius Nepos, who lived at Salona in Dalmatia till 
his death in 480, but Odoacer remained the only real ruler of 
Odoacer Italy. He did not interfere with Roman laws or 

Lord of institutions. He fixed his court at Ravenna, 

Italy. and, though himself an Arian, showed favour to 

orthodox Christians. He arranged by skilful diplomacy to 
avert the invasions of Visigoths and the Vandals, by surrender- 
ing Narbonensian Gaul to the former and Sicily to the latter. 
He rewarded the German troops by giving them a third of the 
Italian soil. When the Rugians attempted an invasion, they 
were defeated and destroyed, and those who remained of them 
became his subjects. He reigned well and wisely over Italy for 
twelve years, when the Ostrogoths, who had settled in Moesia 
and Western Pannonia after the dissolution of the Hunnish 
kingdom, attacked him at the instigation of the Emperor Zeno, 
who told their king, Theodoric, that he would recognise his rule 
in Italy if he would turn out Odoacer. 

In consequence of this, Theodoric, with the whole of his 

Goths, left his settlements in 487, conquered the Gepidae on 

. the Danube and the Rugians on the Julian Alps, 

defeated Odoacer, first at Aquileia and then in 

the famous battle of Verona, which lives in legendary history, 

and shut him up in Ravenna, where he had taken refuge. He 

then spent three years in the reduction first of Milan and 

Pavia, and then of the rest of Italy. Odoacer remained in 

Ravenna, vainly expecting help from the Burgundians, but 

■ji he the city was at last taken in 493, and the 

Ostrogothic kingdom of the Ostrogoths founded in Italy. 

Kingdom of Odoacer was granted his life, but was shortly 

Italy. afterwards slain. Theodoric held the throne 

for thirty-three years, and well deserves the position which 

he holds both in history and legend. He was fortunate in 

having as his prime minister Cassioclorus, a well-educated 

man of letters, whose records of his reign are extremely in- 



a.d. 5651 HISTORY OF EUROPE 257 

teresting, if occasionally too diffuse. He lives in German 
legend as Dietrich of Bern, Bern being the Teutonic form of 
Verona. His purpose was to establish a great kingdom secured 
from attack, and he succeeded in including in his dominions, be- 
sides Italy and Sicily, Noricum, Istria, Pannonia, and Dalmatia. 
He also desired to rule the Goths and the Romans with equal 
firmness, and to put them both in the same position with regard 
to himself. At the same time, being an Arian, he was always 
ill-regarded by the orthodox court of Constantinople. He had 
a large army of 100,000 men, formed entirely of Goths, and 
a fleet of 1000 ships, which protected his coast from the in- 
cursions of the Vandals and the Byzantines. Using his own 
people for war, he gave up commerce and industry to his Roman 
subjects, whom he also employed in the business of administra- 
tion. He is represented to have said, " Let other kings gain 
booty and half-ruined towns by war and slaughter ; my object 
is, by God's help, to conquer in such a way that my subjects 
may regret that they did not come under my rule before." In 
the year 500, he issued an edict declaring the principles on 
which he intended to govern. It was founded on Roman 
legislation, and had for its object the gradual education of 
the Goths in Roman ways and the union of the two peoples. 
He established a number of grafen, or counts, whose business 
it was to exercise equal justice between the two races. In 
his youth, Theodoric had been a hostage at Constantinople, 
and had there learnt to admire art and literature. He there- 
fore favoured these, and did his best to preserve the remains 
of Roman magnificence. All his contemporaries regarded him 
with admiration and reverence, but his reign was naturally 
not without its difficulties, which began with matters of re- 
ligion. The emperor of Constantinople, Justin I., stimulated 
by his nephew Justinian, began to persecute the Arians, upon 
which, in 526, Theodoric sent an embassy to the Byzantine 
emperor, with Pope John at its head, to protest against this 
action. The request was refused, and Theodoric found that 
some of his best and most trusted advisers were ill-disposed 
to the Arian faith. In consequence of this, Boethius, one of 
the glories of the empire, and Symmachus, a senator of high 
rank and influence, were put to death. The work of Boethius, 
" The Consolations of Philosophy," written during his im- 
prisonment, remains a masterpiece to the present day. Theo- 
doric died at Ravenna on August 26, 528. Soon after his 
death, the ashes of " the accursed heretic," which his daughter 

R 



258 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 337 to 

Amalasunta bad hidden under a mass of granite, were torn 
out of their resting-place and scattered to the winds, and the 
magnificent tomb which he had erected for him- 
self remains empty, as a testimony to posterity of 
the greatness of its builder, and a memorial of the mutability of 
fortune. Theodoric had intended that the succession should pass 
to Eutharic, his daughter's husband, but Eutharic was dead, 
and Theodoric committed the care of the kingdom to Amala- 
sunta, because her son, Athalaric, was too young to assume 
the government, and, after the death of her child, she reigned 
for some time alone. The Goths, however, did not like her 
encouragement of Roman customs and culture, and her open- 
ing the harbour of Sicily to the Greeks. To defend herself, 
she married a scion of the royal house, called Theodohat, and 
shared the government with him. But the arrangement did 
not last, and she was murdered in the year 535. 

After the disappearance of the family of Theodosius, the 

court of Constantinople gradually fell into a condition of 

corruption and confusion, occupied partly by the 

rni. a To a f Dr v, ■*■ ' j. x t/ t/ 

E re quarrels of the Circus and partly by disputes 

about religion. The weakness of the emperors 

gave power to the church, and ecclesiastical affairs assumed an 

unhealthy prominence. After the death of Zeno the Isaurian, 

in 491, and Anastasius, during whose reign the empire 

had been afflicted by numerous incursions of 

the Bulgarians and other barbaric tribes, who 

had to be bought off either by the payment of money or by the 

concession of land, Justin I. succeeded in 518, an uneducated, 

. . but wise and vigorous sovereign, who restored 

Tustin I . 

some appearance of order to the afflicted empire. 

But the old prosperity was not restored till the reign of his 
nephew and successor, Justinian, one of the most illustrious 
. sovereigns of history, who reigned from 527 to 

565. His chief legacy to posterity was the 
Corpus Juris, in compiling which he was assisted by the jurist 
Tribonianus. It comprises, first, the Institutions, an intro- 
ductory book for learners ; secondly, the Pandects, a digest of 
authoritative juristic writings ; next, the Codex Justinianus, a 
codification of imperial enactments ; and lastly, the Novels, 
or laws recently issued. It has exercised less influence in 
England than elsewhere, but in several parts of the world, 
e.g. in Germany and in South Africa, it remains the corner- 
stone of jurisprudence. In 529, Justinian put an end to 



a.d. 565] HISTORY OF EUROPE 259 

the philosophical schools which still existed in Athens, and 
thus rooted out the last remains of heathenism, and he built 
the great cathedral of Santa Sophia, which still exists at 
Constantinople as one of the most worthy examples of Roman 
architecture. At home, he crushed the dissensions of the Circus 
by the slaughter of 30,000 of the Greek faction. Abroad, he 
both secured and extended the frontiers of the Roman empire. 
In the North, by the erection of eighty fortresses, he put 
a stop to the invasions of the Bulgarians, Avars, and other 
Danubian tribes ; and in the East, he checked the incursions 
of the famous new Persian king, Chosroes, or Nushirvan, partly 
by arms and partly by the payment of money ; in the West, 
he formed the plan of conquering Italy and establishing 
the Roman empire on its former basis. Geiseric, the Yandal, 
who died in 477, was succeeded by his son Hunneric, and in 523 
the gentle Hilderic came to the throne. As he was unwilling 
to follow the examples of his predecessors by persecuting the 
orthodox Christians, he was deposed by his cousin Gelimer and 
thrown into prison. Justinian seized the opportunity of aveng- 
ing him, and of thus arriving at the execution of his designs. 
The great general Belisarius, who had fought Belisarius 
with distinction against the Persians, was now reconquers 
sent to Africa to attack Gelimer. In a campaign Africa, 
of six months, he captured Carthage, and put an end to the 
Vandal kingdom, which had lasted for ninety-five years and was 
now made into a Greek exarchy. On his return to the capital, 
Belisarius was saluted as the third conqueror of Carthage, and 
was allowed to celebrate a triumph, in which Gelimer was led as 
a captive. At this time, as we have already related, Amalasunta 
was murdered by Theodohat, and Justinian sent Belisarius to 
avenge her in 535, the year after the destruction of the Vandal 
empire in Africa. Belisarius captured Sicily, stormed Naples, 
and would have entered Rome had not Justinian, jjj s Q 0n _ 
it is said from jealousy, given a command to quests in 
Narses, which prevented unity of action. The Italy, 
consequence of this was that Milan, which had been already 
conquered, fell back again into the hands of the Goths, assisted 
by the Burgundians. 

Vitiges, who had succeeded the deposed Theodohat as king of 
the Goths, now stirred up the Persians to attack the empire, in 
order that Belisarius might be recalled from Italy. But before 
his departure he got possession of Ravenna, took Vitiges 
prisoner, and carried him off to Constantinople. The Goths 



260 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.b. 337-565 

chose as successor to Vitiges, Totila, who, in a short time,fdrove 
out the Greek exarch, and recovered almost the whole of Italy 
for the Goths. Belisarius was sent to Italy again, and succeeded 
in conquering Rome ; but, being left by the emperor without 
sufficient reinforcements, asked that he might be recalled, 
whereupon Totila again became master of Rome. 

Narses came in the place of Belisarius, with a large army of 

mercenaries, chiefly of German nationality, and defeated the Goths 

Narses a ^ Tagina, at the foot of the Apennines, in July 552, 

destroys the a battle in which Totila was wounded and slain. 

Ostrogoths. Narses then occupied Rome, and marched to the 

south to encounter Tejas, who had succeeded Totila as king of 

the Goths. The decisive battle was fought at Nocera in the 

neighbourhood of Vesuvius, and Tejas, who fought like a hero, 

fell. After a few more ineffectual struggles, the Ostrogothic 

kingdom came to an end in 555. Narses celebrated his triumph 

in Rome, exhibiting as trophies in the city the arms and 

treasures of the Goths, Franks, and Allemanni, while the soldiers, 

with garlands on their heads, sang hymns in honour of the 

Italy re- conqueror. Italy became a province of the 

stored to Byzantine empire, but its splendour and pros- 

the Empire, perity had entirely disappeared. With the death 

of Justinian in 565, ancient history may be said to have come to 

an end. The new nations, who were to change the face of 

Europe, had begun to assert themselves. The story which we 

have told ends with an undoubted hero, whose character has 

been much maligned. We have not sufficient evidence to 

enable us to distinguish between truth and falsehood, but we 

shall not go far wrong if we give him credit for the great 

actions of his reign, and recognise that they could only have been 

accomplished by a union of exalted ambition and of great 

capacity, which is not likely to have been stained with the 

meanness and vices which some historians of the Byzantine 

court have delighted to attribute to him. 



BOOK II. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FRANKISH EMPIRE 486-768— RISE OF 
MOHAMMEDANISM, 570-802. 

Ten years after the first appearance of Odoacer in Italy, the last 
possession of the Romans in the West was also lost, falling into 
the hands of the Salian or Merovingian Franks, 
who founded the Frankish empire under Ohlodwig p £ allan 
or Clovis. The Franks, who had been previously 
settled by the Yssel and the sea, and were, therefore, called 
Salians or Meerings, as they lived in the Saalgau or the 
Meergau, came into Belgium under Chlodio, who was son of 
Faramund, and then, led by Chlodio's son Merwig, and with 
the help of his own son Childeric, spread over South Brabant 
and Liege along the Maas and the Sambre to the Somme. The 
Salians, being of a free and independent nature and discontented 
with the arbitrary government of Childeric, called to their 
assistance Aegidius, who was the Roman viceroy who ruled 
over a small district round Paris and Soissons. However, the 
rule of Aegidius suited them no better, and they recalled 
Childeric, who had taken refuge with Basinus, king of the 
Thuringians. While there, he gained the affections of Basina, 
the wife of Basinus, who bore him a son, Chlodwig or Clovis, 
and with them he returned and resumed his reign. When 
Childeric died, Clovis, now fifteen years old, succeeded him 
and took Tournay for his capital, other Frankish tribes, 
governed by princes of the house of Faramund, 
beinsr also settled in Belgium. Clovis allied him- Conquests 
ip • i pi- it • i °f Clovis. 

self with some or these princes, and also with 

another body of Franks called Ripuarians, and with their help 
defeated Syagrius, the son of Aegidius, in the battle of Soissons 
in {186, and thus founded the Frankish empire, which extended 

as far as the central and lower Loire. Armorica, the modern 

261 



262 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 486 to 

Brittany, remained independent, but the rest of northern Gaul 
easily submitted to him, because a number of Frankish immi- 
grants had previously filtered into it. Clovis, who was of 
an enterprising and aspiring character, was not content with 
what he had done, but proceeded to defeat the Burgundians, 
at Dijon, in 501 — the Allemanni, probably at Tolbiacum or 
Ziilpich, near Cologne, in 506 — and finally the Visigoths, at 
Vouille, in 507. 

The Allemanni were at this time settled on the Main, 

occupying the lands on the middle Rhine which had been 

deserted by the Burgundians. The Burgundians, 

° at the beginning of the fifth century, had removed 

to the south of Gaul, and had founded a Burgundian kingdom 

on the Rhone and in Switzerland and Savoy. They were, however, 

distracted by civil dissensions. In 470, their country was 

divided amongst four brothers — Hilperic, reigning in Geneva, 

Gundebald in Lyons, Godegisel in Besancon, and Godemar in 

Vienna. Gundebald slew Godemar and Hilperic in war, and 

carried off to Lyons Hilperic's treasures and his daughter 

Chlotilde. Clovis then married Chlotilcle. The Franks were 

heathens and the Burgundians Christians, but, in the battle of 

Ziilpich, as it is called, which we have already mentioned, Clovis 

took an oath that if he won he would become 

baotized a Christian. He was baptized, with 3000 of his 
nobles, by Remigius, the bishop of Rheims. As 
Clovis was orthodox, and all the other German princes Arians, 
he found supporters among the orthodox subjects of all neigh- 
bour kings. Chlotilde, it is said, stirred up Clovis to attack 
Gundebald for having slain her father, Hilperic, but his life 
was spared, and by killing his remaining brother Godegisel he 
became king of all Burgundy, governed it well, and gave it 
a code of laws. After this, Clovis proceeded, on the plea of 
religion, to attack the Arian Visigoths, adding to his dominions 
most of the country between the Loire and the Pyrenees. He 
was stopped from further advance by Theodoric the Great, 
whose grandson was now king of the Visigoths. Clovis received 
the title of Patricius from the emperor of the East. Being 
greatly assisted by his orthodoxy, he succeeded, by either force 
or fraud, in gradually getting the greater part of Gaul under 
his sway, and when he died, in 511, left it to be divided 
between his four sons — a disastrous practice, which caused civil 
war and prevented unity. 

All this happened before the reign of Justinian, of which we 



a.d.768] THE FRANKISH EMPIRE 263 

have already given an account. Justinian was succeeded by his 
nephew Justin II., whose weakness and incompetence lost the 
possession of Italy, which his nncle had won. In 568, Alboin, 
king of the Lombards, who were settled in Pannonia, having 
destroyed the Gepidae, with the help of the Avars, gave up his 
country to them as a reward for their assistance, and, reinforced 
by some bodies of Slavs or Saxons, marched with his whole 
nation to Italy, which he overran as far as the Tiber, with the 
exception of the sea-coast of Venetia and Liguria. After the 
battle of Pavia in 569, he founded the Lombard The 
kingdom in Italy. He had married Rosamunda, the Lombard 
daughter of Kunimund, king of the Gepidae, whom Kingdom, 
he had killed in single combat. However, when in a drunken 
fit he compelled her to drink wine out of her father's skull, 
which he used as a goblet, she murdered him in his sleep, with 
the help of her paramour, Helmichis. Having failed to obtain 
the throne which she had coveted, she fled with her treasures 
and her lover to Ravenna, where they killed each other by 
poison. The Lombards first chose Kleph to be their king, 
and then murdered him, so that for ten years they remained 
without a king. But, finding that this arrangement led 
to civil war and weakness against their enemies, in 584, 
thev chose Autharis, who, to resist the Franks, 

• Aut h fl,n ^ 

made an alliance with the Bavarians — Bajuarii — 
whose domains extended from the Danube to the Alps. The 
Bavarians were a German nation, composed of Marcomannic 
and Gothic elements. They formerly occupied the country 
between the Lech and the Ems, reaching beyond the Danube 
in the north, and as far as Trent in the south. Autharis, 
following the usual custom, married Theodelinde, the daughter 
of the Bavarian king whom he had conquered, who bore the 
name of Garibald, but he died in the following year, 590. The 
Lombards then invited his beautiful and pious widow to be 
their queen, and to marry any one of them whom 
she might choose. She selected Duke Agilulf of 
Turin, and made him king. He was baptized into the Catholic 
faith, upon which many of the Lombards deserted Arianism. 
After her second marriage, Theodelinde built the cathedral of 
Monza, in which is still preserved the iron crown with which the 
kings of Lombardy have always been crowned, said to have been 
formed out of a nail which was used in the crucifixion of Christ. 
To return to the Franks. After the death of Clovis in 511, 
his kingdom was divided amongst his four sons. Theodoric, the 



264 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 486 to 

eldest, received the eastern portion, known as Austrasia, 

chiefly German, which he enlarged by the conquest of most 

Austrasia °f Thuringia. He placed his capital in Metz. 

and Ohlodomer was settled in Orleans, Childebert in 

Neustria. Paris, and Chlothar (Lothair) in Soissons. These 

three provinces were known as Neustria, or the country of the 

West Franks, the prevailing language being French. The West 

Franks conquered Burgundy. Chlothar I. was 

fortunate enough to outlive his brothers, and, in 

558, became king of the whole of the Frankish domains from 

the Atlantic to the Unstrut, and nearly to the Adriatic, but, 

dying in 561, again divided his domains between his four sons. 

This led to terrible family feuds, which were accentuated by the 

Fredegunde bitter hatred between Fredegunde of Neustria 

and and Brunhilde of Austrasia. which made the 

Brunhilde. Merovingian house notorious for domestic quarrels. 

Brunhilde was the wife of Sigebert, who died at Metz in 575, 

leaving one son, Childebert II., who died in 596, his line coming 

to an end in 613. Fredegunde was the wife of Chilperic I., 

and their son, Chlothar II., succeeded eventually to the whole 

Frankish kingdom, dying in 628. His son, 

Dagobert I., who died in 638, became king 

of the whole Frankish empire, and has left a reputation 

scarcely inferior to that of Clovis. After his death came the 

"Rois Faineants," the do-nothing kings, who 

■r, . e , 01 ^ lived in retreat, wore Ions; fair hair, the sign of 
Faineants. . . ' ° ' & 

their sovereignty, but only showed themselves 

occasionally, driving in w T aggons to public assemblies, the real 
power being exercised by the major domus, the mayor of the 
palace, from whom sprang the mighty Charlemagne, Charles the 
Great, the one sovereign in history whose title has become part 
of his name. 

Before we leave the Merovingians, we must give an account 
of the constitution of their government and show that it was 
The Mero- borrowed from the Roman polity, which they 
vingianCon- found existing in the countries which they con- 
stitution, querecl. There can be no doubt that the Mero- 
vingian constitution followed in all important respects the 
pattern of the Roman empire, and there is no evidence of its 
having been affected by German individualism. There is no 
trace of the monarchy having been elective; the succession of 
the throne passed like a private estate, and could be left by will. 
Every prince reigned by virtue of the natural order of succes- 



a.d. 768] THE FRANKISH EMPIRE 265 

sion, two things being necessary, the act of installation, and the 
taking of the oath of fidelity of the whole people. There was a 
meeting of the people in arms, held in spring, called the Champ 
de Mars, or the Champ de Mai, but it was only a military in- 
spection, and it had no deliberative character and no influence 
over the government. Neither Clovis nor his successors ever 
held an assembly of the Frankish people. There was a Frankish 
nobility, but it was not hereditary, and was conferred by the 
king. We find five terms used to designate The 
nobles amongst the Franks : Leudes, Antrustions, Frankish 
Optimates, Proceres, and Nobiles. Leude, which Nobility, 
is a form of the German Leute or people, is a correlative term. 
A leude was always a leude of some one. Antrustion is a 
person in the trust of the king — that is, owing allegiance, or as 
the prayer-book says, " affiance and trust in him." A man was 
made an antrustion by the king, and he was of higher rank than 
a leude. Optimates and proceres signified a nobility of service 
which was not hereditary, and nobiles was a general term for 
persons of rank. 

The king never performed royal acts of government alone. 
He was always surrounded by a small group of persons, who 
deliberated and discussed with him, and who position 
offered them advice on all subjects, but he was and Powers 
not bound to consult them by law, but by a con- of tne King, 
vention of the constitution. This court was composed of bishops, 
dukes, and counts. But no one attended this council as a matter 
of right. Sometimes the whole of the bishops and grandees 
were summoned, sometimes only a part of them. They were 
summoned one day, and not the next. The Roman emperors 
also consulted their consistory ; they did not think it necessary 
to say that they had done so, but it became the custom of the 
Merovingian chancery to declare that the royal act had been 
done in council, and that it had the approval of the grandees. 
There is no sign of the intervention of the people in legislation, 
or of a popular assembly. The king was called dominus, and 
disobedience to a simple letter of the king was punished by a fine 
equal to that of murder. At the same time, he could not pro- 
mulgate a law or lex. This word seems to have been reserved 
partly for the old Roman laws which were always venerated, 
and partly for national customs which bore the sanction of 
antiquity. At the same time, the royal edicts had all the 
force of laws. 

Under the Merovingians there was no national assembly 



266 A GENERAL HISTORY [a. d. 486 to 

possessing political rights, no aristocratic body with traditions 
of independence, no people electing their kings, no people 
making laws. There was neither by the side of the king nor in 
front of him any institution which limited his power. The 
Gauls under the dominion of the Romans had been used to a 
highly organised form of government, and they obeyed the 
Frankish king as they had previously obeyed the praetorian 
praefect. The Merovingians considered the kingship and the 
kingdom as their property. Not only were all the public affairs 
of the kingdom in the hands of the king, not only was he the 
master of peace and war, of taxes, laws and justice, but he could 
intervene in private affairs with arbitrary power. A new name 
for the wish of the king was bannus or ban. Every one was 
bound to obey the king's ban. The Frankish kings soon 
adopted the Roman ensigns of royalty. They wore the purple 
tunic like the Roman consuls ; they had the sceptre, the throne, 
and the crown of gold ; their letters were called oracles, and 
their residence was called the sacred palace. The old law of 
laesa majestas (lese majeste), or high treason, was applied by 
them with great severity. 

Under the Roman empire, the Palatium was, at once, the 
court of the emperor and the seat of government, and we find 

the same among the Franks. The name of Palace 
e mg s wag gj ven D y them to the king's house and also 

to the persons comprising the king's court, who 
followed him about wherever he went. It was also called 
aula, aula palatina, or domus regis. The members of the royal 
court were called aulici or palatini : to live in the king's court 
was a privilege highly envied. The members of the court were 
also called nutriti, or persons fed by the king, convivae regis, or 
persons entitled to eat at the king's table, where matters of 
state were frequently discussed. ISTo one was admitted to the 
palace except by wish of the king ; no birth, however noble, 
gave a person a right to it. The king could exclude any one he 
pleased — indeed, to be driven from it was the punishment for 
certain offences ; no one, once admitted to it, could leave it 
without the permission of the king. Many persons passed the 
whole of their lives in the palace. They entered young, and 
grew old in it, passing through the various degrees of the 
palatial hierarchy, beginning as aulicus, then becoming comes, 
then domesticus, then conviva regis, then procer or optimas. 
Children were sent to the palace very young, and a school 
was held there, attended by both Franks and Romans. The 



ad. 768] THE FRANKISH EMPIRE 267 

men employed in the personal service of the king held a very 
high rank. First came the pincerna, or butler, who had charge 
of the king's wine ; then the cubicularii, or chamberlains, who 
had charge of the king's bedchamber ; then the senescalcus, 
seneschal or steward, who had charge over the servants ; then 
the marescalcus or marshal, who had charge of the king's horses, 
and under him was the comes stabuli, the count of the stable or 
constable, a name given to various ranks, ranging from the 
village policeman to the constable of France, second only to the 
king himself. Also the king's chapel was of great importance, 
and especially the relics it contained. No act of justice or pro- 
cedure could take place without the relics of some saint ; even 
the oath of fidelity to the king had to be taken in this way. 
The chapel, like the palace, always followed the king. Even 
down to the end of the French monarchy in 1870, the place 
where the sovereign slept, even though it were a hovel, was always 
called the palace. 

Such was the domestic part of the palace, but it was also the 
centre of government, and the administration of the kingdom 
was carried on there. There were the ministers , 

and their offices, called Scrinia. From the palace Ministers 8 
came royal wills, precepts, authorities, decrees, 
edicts, capitula, and charters, which were written by notaries or 
amanuenses or scriptores, names all borrowed from the Roman 
empire. There were also chancellors or referendaries, the duty 
of these last being to present documents for signature, and to 
sign them themselves. The treasury also held an important 
position in the palace. It was at once a depository of money, 
a storehouse for precious objects, and a depot for archives. The 
palace also contained a class of persons called domestici, who 
must not be confounded with antrustiones or convivae. Some of 
them were directors of domains, while others looked after the 
household. They were officers of very high rank. At the head 
of them was the comes palatii, the count of the palace, whose 
functions eventually obscured those of the king himself. His 
most important duties were judicial ; he had charge of the palace 
court. The Frankish kings had no capital properly so called. 
Paris, Metz, and Orleans were their principal towns, but the 
kings did not live in them, and the government did not sojourn 
in them. The palace followed the king about from villa to 
villa, and never left him. It was a moving capital, an ambula- 
tory government. It was the supreme tribunal of the kingdom, 
and the supreme council of the state. Indeed, the palace was 



268 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 486 to 

the most important institution of the Merovingian period. Per- 
haps what most nearly resembles it is the court of an Indian 
prince at the present day. 

This being the position of the palace, we cannot be surprised 
that the mayor of the palace came to have such great import- 
The Mayor ance in the kingdom. The major domus was, 
of the at first, a term used only in private families, and 

Palace. wa s given to one who had charge both of the do- 

mains and of the servants. It was known to Roman society in 
the fifth century, but was not found in the imperial palace. It 
is, however, found amongst the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, 
and Burgundians. Among them we find strong expressions 
used about the power of the mayors of the palace. We are told 
that he governs the palace, he governs the court of the king, he 
is raised above the royal house. All the services of the palace 
are directed by him ; he is like a prince of the palace ; he 
governs the body of the palatini, who govern the kingdom. 
There is no doubt that as head of the palace he had the right 
of justice and coercion over all the persons who composed the 
palace — that is, over the grandees of the kingdom. It was 
naturally not intended to create an officer with such extended 
powers, but as the palace gradually concentrated into itself all 
the powers of the kingdom, so the authority of the mayor of 
the palace grew. He became the first judge, the first treasurer, 
the first administrator ; he took the royal place in the absence of 
the king ; he directed the finances and imposed the taxes ; he 
was guardian of the royal domains. His powers were indefinite 
and unrestricted. He was sometimes a judge, sometimes a 
general, more often an administrator than a soldier ; he had 
charge of all kinds of things, and he was responsible for every- 
thing ; every one consulted him. Much depended on his 
personal character, his goodness, his pride, or his cupidity, for 
he could enrich himself when he pleased, and he alone pro- 
nounced restoration or confiscation of lands. Thus, his duties, 
without being defined, extended to everything. The Mero- 
vingian king had no master of the offices, no count of the 
sacred largesses, no master of the soldiers. Their places were 
taken in great measure by the mayor of the palace, who was 
the first minister — indeed, the only minister — of this absolute 
monarchy. At first the mayor was appointed by the king, but 
eventually the palace elected both its mayor and its king. We 
shall see presently that the mayor became eventually entirely 
independent, and ended by securing the throne, but during two- 



ad. 768] THE FRANKISH EMPIRE 269 

thirds of the Merovingian period the palace was only a collec- 
tion of the king's court, and the mayor of the palace was the 
servant whom the king appointed to govern the others in his 
name. 

The relations between the Frankish monarchy and the church 
are very important. The Franks did not introduce their pagan 
religion into France, as they were converted at T ne church 
the moment of invasion. But the church of the in the Fifth 
fifth century was not the primitive church ; its Century, 
dogma was fixed, and it was arranged in hierarchies. Origin- 
ally Christianity bore a very democratic character ; the church 
formed a community which was called the ecclesia or the 
assembly ; its chiefs were called elders, presbyters, or priests ; 
its head was an episcopos or overlooker, eventually changed 
to bishop ; its servants were deacons. It presented itself to 
the eyes of the outer world as a close body, a clems, whereas 
the rest of the world was called the crowd, laos, so that the 
community was divided into clergy and laity. But this demo- 
cratic character was lost as soon as the church began to take 
to itself the character of the Roman empire. The church, 
like the empire, was divided into provinces and civitates ; the 
city became a parish ; the province was ruled over by a metro- 
politan. The bishop of Rome did not at first possess any 
great authority. Milan and Ravenna were the two seats of 
government in Italy. Below the bishop was often, at this time, 
his assistant the chorepiscopus. There were also archpriests 
and archdeacons, the last named having authority over the re- 
ligious services, the discipline of the clergy, the revenues, and 
the salaries. An archdeacon must be a man of ability. 

It thus happened that the Frankish kings when they arrived 
in Gaul found a strong episcopate, having great power over 
souls, strongly attached to the constitution of the rp^e church 
state, more venerated and more influential than and the 
the municipal magistrates, independent of the Frankish 
imperial power, which rarely interfered with it, Kings. 
but subordinate to the people, who sometimes claimed to elect the 
new bishop and sometimes to depose him. The new nations of 
the country had no feelings of hostility against the episcopate. 
Clovis treated with the bishops before he became king, and, 
after he was baptized affected to consult them. He enriched 
them with the lands which he had conquered. But the 
monarchy gradually got the election of bishops into its hands, 
and either dominated the episcopate, or appeared to dominate 



270 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.b. 486 to 

it. It is not, however, till 549 that we find the will of the 
king specified as a feature in the appointment of bishops. 
The king at first exercised only a veto, later the actual right 
of nomination. 

The Frankish kings were so intent upon establishing a right 
to nominate the bishops that they did not care about limit- 
ing their power. That power grew by the 
th^ETh belief which all Christians had of a future state 

of reward and punishment. The first interest 
of every one in this world was to procure for himself a place 
in the next. The church disposed of every one's destiny. The 
punishment of excommunication was very severe, but, if the 
church had punishments, it had also rewards — all festivals 
were church festivals, the body of a saint was a most precious 
possession. In a powerful church, the bishop was the most 
powerhu person ; he seemed to hold the place of Christ himself, 
as the visible head of the community. He was the mediator 
between God and man, a sacred being, and the common people 
regarded him as a saint, which he often was, — the power of 
the episcopate being indeed greatly due to the high charac- 
ters of the men who held the office. He was supposed to cure 
diseases by making the sign of the cross, by alloAving people to 
touch his garment, by giving them water to drink. If he did 
not do miracles during his lifetime, it was certain that he would 
do them after his death. The church became immensely rich : 
lands and money were given to it in profusion. Attached to 
the soil were a number of serfs, all devoted to the church. 
It also possessed in every city a number of men who had 
received some kind of orders and were called clerici, though 
they might marry and have families, and sometimes kept shops. 
Large numbers of the poor were also maintained by the church, 
and these swelled the adherents of the bishops. Many of the 
bishops had proceeded from the palace ; they had passed part 
of their lives as referendaries or counts, and had acquired a 
knowledge of affairs, and naturally kept up close relations 
with the palace from which they had come. All these things 
helped to strengthen the power of the bishops ; they acted 
almost as temporal sovereigns, and tended to reduce to im- 
potence the old municipal magistrates. The bishops gradually 
made for themselves a place by the side of the counts, and 
shared public authority with the functionaries of the king. 

The church in Germany owes its strength and, indeed, its 
existence largely to missionaries, who were sent at the end 



ad. 768] THE FRANKISH EMPIRE 271 

of the sixth century from Ireland and England to preach the 
gospel in the interior of that country, which, in the seventh 
century, had a powerful effect upon the church 
in France. The conquest of Britain by the j^J^^y 
Anglo-Saxons, who were heathens, led to the 
destruction of Christianity, which had been introduced by the 
Romans. It was founded again by Pope Gregory the Great, who 
sent forty missionaries to England, led by Augus- 
tine. They found there King Aethelbert of Kent ^nd Ireland 
and his queen, Bertha, who was the daughter of 
a Frankish prince, and a Christian. She converted her husband, 
and they and their family did much to spread Christianity 
throughout the island, and founded bishoprics, the chief of 
which was established at Canterbury in Kent, of which 
Augustine became archbishop. Ireland had already been con- 
verted to Christianity by St. Patrick in the fifth f^g j rish 
century, and first from Ireland, and then from and English 
England, proceeded missionaries who brought the Missionaries, 
gospel to Scotland and then to those parts of Germany which 
were either as yet unconverted or had fallen back into heathen- 
dom. Amongst these may be mentioned the Irishman St. 
Columba, who, between 590 and 615, accompanied by twelve 
missionaries, went to the Allemanni, and worked in the Vosges 
mountains, at Zurich, and at Bregenz on the lake of Constance. 
His companion, Gallus, who worked between 590 and 640, 
founded the monastery of St. Gallen, which gave its name 
to a canton in Switzerland, and was a seat of education 
and enlightenment to that portion of Europe, extending to 
the whole of southern Germany. Kilian, bishop of Wurzburg, 
preached among the Franks, and Emmeram, bishop of Poitou, 
in Bavaria. The Anglo-Saxon Willibrord came to Germany 
at the close of the seventh century with eleven missionaries, 
and, with the help of Pepin, converted the Frisians. 

Meanwhile Gregory the Great (540-604) did much to estab- 
lish the position of the bishop of Rome and to strengthen the 
unity of the church ; and Benedict of Nursia, who died in 543, 
had set on foot a reform of the monasteries. His chief founda- 
tion was the monastery of Monte Cassino, in the centre of 
Italy, and from this proceeded a number of smaller monasteries, 
which devoted themselves to manual labour, to agriculture, to 
study, and to the education of youth. Indeed, it is impos- 
sible to exaggerate the services which the Benedictine Order 
has rendered to the cause of learning in the world. 



272 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 486 to 

Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy all possessed mayors of 
the palace, the growth and extent of whose powers have just 
been described, and it was natural that they 
H^^tal should quarrel with each other. At last, in 687, 
Pepin, of Heristal, now a subxirb of Liege, who 
was grandson of Pepin of Landen, becoming mayor of the 
palace in Austrasia, defeated his Neustrian and Burgundian 
rivals in the battle of Testri, on the Somme, and became mayor 
of the palace for all the kingdom. He was in fact, though not 
in name, the king of the Franks, and, under the weak govern- 
ment of the "do nothing" kings, was able to consolidate his 
power and to pass it on to his descendants. 

The son of Pepin of Heristal was Charles, called Martel, 

or the Hammer (714-741), who united the whole of the 

Frankish empire under his rule. Under him, 

ar es Christianity was threatened by the advance of 

Islam or Mohammedanism, of which we shall 

speak in the latter part of this chapter. The Arabs and the 

Moors of Spain crossed the Pyrenees into France, with the 

object of converting the whole of that country to their own 

faith. The very existence of Christianity seemed to be at 

stake, when, in 732, Charles defeated the invaders in a battle 

which was fought between Tours and Poitiers, and lasted several 

days. Even then, for some time, Mohammedans were able to 

maintain themselves in Septimania in the south of Gaul. After 

the death of Charles Martel, his two sons by his first marriage 

divided the kingdom, Karlmann, the eldest, taking Austrasia, 

and Pepm, the younger, Neustria and Burgundy. Karlmann 

went into a monastery, and Pepin, called " le 

Bref 11 6 ^ re ^ " or ^ ne Short, undertook the government of 

the kingdom. His rule was so efficient that, in 

752, at a diet held at Soissons, the Frankish nobles, with the 

concurrence of Pope Zacharias, deposed Childeric III., last of 

the Merovingians, and made Pepin king of the Franks. 

This had a great influence over the fate of the church, be- 
cause, in the meantime, Winfrid, an Englishman, better known 
. as Boniface, had begun the labours which insured 

Germany m him the title of the A P ostl e ° f Germany. He not 
only preached in Germany, but by his zeal and 
devotion effected the conversion of the Frisians, Hessians, and 
Thuringians. Bavaria, which had been previously converted 
by Severinus and Emmeram, was also stimulated by him, and 
the episcopal sees in Germany which were either founded or 



a.d. 768] THE FRANKISH EMPIRE 273 

reformed by him were brought into closer connection with the 
see of Rome. Winfrid, who was born at Kyrton in Wessex in 
680 or 683, had first worked amongst the Frisians under Willi- 
brord, and had then received the eastern part of the land of 
the Franks as his missionary field from Pope Gregory II. Pope 
Gregory III. made him archbishop of Germany, without any 
special see, in 742. He was supported strongly by Karlmann 
and Pepin, who made him archbishop of Mainz, by which he 
became primate of Germany. He founded the bishopric of 
Buraburg in Hesse, now represented by Fritzlar, the monastery 
of Fulda, the bishoprics of Wiirzburg and Eichstadt in Thur- 
ingia, the bishoprics of Regensburg, Freising, Passau, and Salz- 
burg in Bavaria. At the close of his life, he committed the care 
of his archbishopric to his pupil Lullus, and devoted himself to 
the conversion of the Frisians, amongst whom, at the age of 
seventy, he suffered a martyr's death at Dokkum in 754. The 
heathens whom he was attempting to convert, seeing the Bible 
and the church vessels which he bixmght with him, thought 
they were of value, and fell upon him and killed him, with fifty- 
two of his companions. 

Pepin saw that the security of his government depended 
greatly upon the support of the Roman church, and the 
bishop of Rome was desirous of obtaining the 
support of the Franks for himself, as he was K® pi p and 
threatened both by the Lombards and by the 
exarch of Ravenna. 80 Pepin received the consecration of 
the pope, which was afterward given to his successors. 
He also assisted Pope Stephen in his struggle against the 
Lombard king, Aistulf, defeated him in two campaigns, and 
took away from him the exarchate of Ravenna, which he 
gave to the pope. This was known as the " Donation of 
Pepin." It did not include the city of Rome, but it was 
the foundation of the temporal power of the pope, which 
lasted for eleven hundred years, and did not come to an 
end till September 20, 1870. In 756, Pepin made the Saxons 
of Westphalia tributary to him, and destroyed the domination 
of the Mcors in Septimania. After establishing the duchy 
of Aquitaine as a state tributary to the Franks, he died in 
768. He left his kingdom to his two sons, Charles and 
Carloman, but, in order to avoid the dissensions which arose 
from the division into East and West — that is, into France 
and Germany — he attempted to unite the two nationalities 
by a division into North-East and South -West, of which, 

s 



274 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 570 to 

Charles received Austrasia, with Thuringia and Bavaria, but 
also much of Neustria and the land between the Loire and 
the Garonne : Carloman, ruling the rest of ISTeustria, had 
also Burgundy, Provence, Alsace, Allemannia and part of 
Aquitaine. 

In the Byzantine empire, Justin II., the nephew of Justinian, 

was succeeded by Tiberius IT., and both of them were much 

Troubles of troubled by the attacks of Nushirvan, the shah 

the Eastern of Persia. Maurice, who succeeded, was simi- 

Empire. larly oppressed by the Avars and Scythians ; 

and Phocas, who reigned from 602 to 610, and who is chiefly 

known by the tall column which bears his name in the 

Forum at Rome, established a reign of terror which made 

matters worse. The Persians had robbed the Eastern empire 

of Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor, and were encamped opposite 

Constantinople, so that the Emperor Heraclius 

(610-641) gave up everything as lost, and deter- 
mined to take refuge in Carthage. His courage was, how- 
ever, revived by the energy of the patriarch ; he defeated the 
Persians in three campaigns, and at last obtained a brilliant 
victory over Chosroes II. at Nineveh in 627. But he did 
not succeed in reviving the strength of the empire, which 
suffered under a despotic government, and was torn asunder 
by ecclesiastical disputes. The weakness of the Eastern empire 
and of the religion which it professed gave an opportunity 
for the advance of Islam, which took its rise in Arabia. 

The Arabians were a Semitic race, consisting partly of a 
settled people established in towns, and partly of wandering 

nomads, the ancestors of the modern Bedouins. 

They had originally, like the Hebrews, worshipped 
one God, but they gradually fell into polytheism, and, in the 
south, into the worship of stars. One of their principal objects 
of worship was the Kaaba, a meteoric stone, for which a 
temple had been built in Mecca. The care of the stone had 
been committed to the Bedouins, who thus became lords 
of Mecca ; but disturbances arose, and in the middle of the 
fifth century the Kaaba came into the possession of a Bedouin 
race called the Koreits. 

Abdul Kasem Mohammed, son of Abdallah, was born at 
Mecca in 570, of the Koreit family of the Hashem. He had 
great gifts both of mind and of body, and was certainly one of 
the most remarkable men who ever came into the world. He 



a.d. S02] RISE OF MOHAMMEDANISM 275 

lost his parents at an early age, and was brought up by his uncle, 

Abu-Taleb. He travelled with trading caravans in southern 

Arabia and Syria, and, at last, managed the 

business of a rich widow, called Kadija, whom Shammed 

he married. Devoted to religious reflection, 

he withdrew from the world, and spent the whole of his 

time during the sacred month Ramadan in a cave. 

Mohammed had met both in Mecca and on his travels 
with Jews and Christians, and by their teaching, as well as 
by his own reflection, he became convinced of the superiority 
of the worship of a single God to the polytheism which sur- 
rounded him. He had also learnt that both Jews and Christians 
looked for the coming of a teacher — Jews of a Messiah, 
Christians of a Paraclete, the promised Holy Spirit. Thus 
he gradually became persuaded that his own people required 
a purer religion, and an inspired prophet. Now, at the age 
of forty, he began to feel the birth of new ideas. The Angel 
Gabriel appealed to him in his cave, and bade him reveal 
his message to the world. Kadija believed in him and en- 
couraged him, and the angel appeared to him a second time. 
At last, in 610 or 612, came the night of the secret resolution, 
the "Leila al Kuds." He determined to proclaim himself 
the messenger and ambassador of Allah the one „ __ 
God, the lord of heaven and earth. His first c i a ims him- 
disciples were his wife, Kadija, his daughter, self the 
his cousin Ali, then ten years old, his friend Prophet of 
Abu Bekr, an upright merchant, and his emanci- 
pated slave, Zeid. He attempted to conciliate the new faith 
with the old, suppressing the worship of Kaaba and the pilgrim- 
ages undertaken to it. In the first three years, his disciples 
did not exceed forty. In the fourth, he addressed his tribe 
the Koreits, and threatened them with the fires of hell if 
they did not give up their polytheism, but he encountered 
contempt and ridicule. A number of his followers, among 
whom were Rukeija and her husband Othman, took refuge 
in Abyssinia, where they were protected by the king, who 
was a Nestorian Christian. Persecution had the effect of 
increasing the number of his disciples in Mecca, the chief 
of whom were his uncle, Hamza, called the " Lion of God," 
and Omar, the son of his principal antagonist, Abu Djal. 
Omar was then twenty- six years old, a man of gigantic stature, 
of marvellous strength, and of great courage. With his wild 
look and his heavy staff, he was able to make people afraid 



276 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 570 to 

of him. But Mohammed was finally exiled, and had to take 
refuge for three years in a fortress in the wilderness, and 
did not return to Mecca until 620. Soon after this, Kadija 
died, an irreparable loss, but Mohammed consoled himself by 
marrying Sanda and by being betrothed to Ayesha, the 
daughter of Abu Bekr, who was seven years old. 

Mohammed was now fortified by new visions, and believed 
himself to be carried by a winged horse to the presence of 
God, in the seventh heaven. If the people of Mecca would 
not listen to him, he began to find adherents in Medina, 
especially in the tribe of the Chazradjites. At last, seventy- 
three believers from Medina came to him, and begged him 
to leave Mecca and go to them. He at first declined, and 
remained for three months in Mecca, but, when he heard 
that the Kureish had determined to murder him, he fled 
with Abu Bekr and Ali by night to Medina. This was the 
. Hegira, the beginning of the Moslem calendar, 
g ' July 16, 622. He entered the city in triumph, 
and was supported by Ali, Omar, and Othman. He first 
approached the Jews, reverenced the Sabbath, and declared 
Jerusalem to be the Kibla, the place towards which every 
true Mohammedan turns when he prays. But the Jews rejected 
him for their Messiah, as they had previously rejected Jesus, 
so he turned to the Arabians, and made Mecca the Kibla 
and Friday his Sabbath. In Medina, the teaching of the 
prophet began to take a new development. His conversations 
with the Angel Gabriel became more frequent : his utterances 
were collected and formed the sacred book, the Koran. A 
mosque was built, called Mesdjid, a common house of prayer, 
out of palm trees. From its roof, Bilal called the faithful 
four times a day. 

Mohammed now began to draw the sword. He defeated 
the Koreits at Beda in 624, and again at Ohod in 625. He 

Moham- attacked the Jews, who besieged him in Medina. 

med's Con- In 629, he undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca, and 

quests, eventually brought it under his power in 630. 

He returned to Medina as a victorious king, sought on all 
sides by ambassadors of friendly powers and by new adherents, 
while he sent his own embassy to the south and to the sea- 
coast to procure new believers in Islam. In 632 he made 
another pilgrimage to Mecca, when he walked round the Kaaba 
seven times Avith fervent prayers. Shortly after his return 
from Medina, he fell ill in the house of his wife Ayesha, and 



a.d. 802] RISE OF MOHAMMEDANISM 277 

died in her arms on June 8, 632. His last words were " Ever- 
lasting life in Paradise ! " He died in the eleventh year of 
the Hegira, and the sixty-third year of his age, 
the prophet, poet, priest, and king of Arabia. 
He was buried in the place where he died, and his house was 
turned into a mosque, and became a place of pilgrimage like 
the Kaaba at Mecca. The corner stone of the belief of 
Islam is the Koran, a collection of the revelations made by the 
Angel Gabriel to Mohammed, ordered and arranged by Abu 
Bekr two years after the prophet's death. Islam attempts to 
revive the old religion of Abraham, while recognising both 
Judaism and Christianity ; Moses and Jesus are regarded as 
the ambassadors of God, but Mohammed as his last and chief 
messenger. The fundamental belief of Islam is contained 
in the words, " There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is 
his prophet." The Moslems also believe in angels, prophets, 
in the resurrection, last judgment, everlasting life, and pre- 
destination. If Islam is a decline from Christianity, it is a 
great advance on the former religion of the Arabs and on the 
teaching of the Parsees. 

After the death of Mohammed, a contest arose about the 
succession, some following Ali, husband of the prophet's daugh- 
ter, Fatima, and one of the purest and brightest conauests 
spirits in the whole of the Moslem hierarchy, and f Abu 
others the powerful Abu Bekr, who became the Bekr and 
first khalif, that is, representative of the prophet. Omar. 
Abu Bekr took energetic steps to spread his religion, and, with 
the help of Kalid, conquered the Persian princes of Irak and 
Hira on the Euphrates, and wrested a large part of Syria 
from the Eastern empire. He died in 634, and was succeeded 
by Omar (634-644), a rough warrior, who took the title of 
Emir al Mumenin, commander of the faithful, and established 
a council of state called the divan. He conquered the 
Emperor Heraclius at the battle of Tiberias, and took from 
him, by 639, Damascus, together with Syria, 
Palestine, and Phoenicia. In 641, Amru, with 1 ° f 
the assistance of the Coptic Christians, who were 
opposed by the Byzantines, conquered Egypt and destroyed 
many thousand Christian churches. There is also little doubt 
that Omar caused the destruction of the world- 
famous library of Alexandria, an irreparable loss an Fersia - 
to literature. Also, in 642, he overthrew the powerful Persian 
empire, defended by the last Sassanid, Jezdegerd III., and 



278 A GENERAL HISTORY [a. d . 570 to 

his brave general Rustum. This made Islam the predominant 
religion of the East. Bagdad on the Tigris soon became the 
principal seat for the Mohammedan world, of commerce, art, 
and science, and farther toward the East arose the princes 
of Bokhara, Balkh, and Samarcand. Soon after the conquest 
of Persia, Omar was murdered in Medina by a Persian 
slave. 

Omar had, before his death, commanded the six oldest 
followers of the prophet to choose a new khalif from amongst 
them. They met in the house of Ayesha, and discussed for a 
time the conflicting claims of Ali and Othman, 
and the choice fell on Othman. He held the 
khalifate for twelve years, but without much reputation or 
success. Real power came into the hands of his cousin Moawija, 
of the tribe of the Ommaijacls, who were spoken of in the Koran 
as the enemies of Islam, and internal disorder increased. At 
Tlie last, in 656, Othman was attacked and murdered. 

Struggle Ali was chosen as his successor, but he hesitated 

for the for some time to receive the position from blood- 

Khalifate. .stained hands. He was bitterly opposed by Ayesha, 
Mohammed's widow, who disliked Fatima, the wife of Ali. 
Ayesha and her followers took refuge in Bozra, and Ali pro- 
ceeded to attack them. The decisive battle was fought under 
the walls of Bozra in December 656, and was called the battle 
of the camels, because Ayesha directed it from the back of a 
camel, which the followers of Ali struggled in vain to capture. 
At last the animal was hamstrung, and Ayesha was captured. 
Ali entered Bozra as a conqueror, but he had new difficulties 
before him. Moawija had raised the standard of revolt in 
Damascus to avenge the death of his relation Othman, and 
had roused the Syrian Moslems against Ali. He was supported 
by Amru, the conqueror of Egypt, and Ali had to attack 'them. 
It is said that ninety battles were fought in one hundred and 
ten days, Ali losing 25,000 of his men, Moawija 45,000. At 
last, three Mussulmans swore that they would kill all three 
combatants, in order to put an end to the civil strife. Amru 
was slain by a poisoned dagger, Moawija was severely wounded, 
but not killed, and Ali, stabbed on entering a mosque, died 
two days afterwards. He left a son, Hussain, 
ttd^hlftes w ^° con ti nuec l the succession of his family in 
Mecca. By this time, Mohammedans were divided 
into the two sects of Sunnites and Shiites, which often 
fought furiously when they met. The Persians were mainly 



ad. 802] RISE OF MOHAMMEDANISM 279 

Shiites, and regarded Ali as the rightful immediate successor 
of Mohammed. 

The khalifate of the Ommaijads begins with Moawija. He 
moved his capital from Medina to Damascus, and attacked the 
Byzantines so vigorously, between the years 668 The 
and 675, that they were only saved by the use of Ommaijad 
Greek fire. Between 692 and 705, Abdul Malek Khalifate. 
conquered Armenia, while his general, Musa, destroyed Carthage 
in 698, and completed the conquest of North Africa, the Berbers 
being compelled to become Mohammedans. Abdel Malek's 
successor, Walid (705-714), was the mightiest of the Ommaijads. 
He conquered the territory of the Oxus and Jaxartes in the 
East, and, in the West, crossed from Africa into Spain, and in 
711 destroyed the kingdom of the Visigoths, and established a 
Moslem empire on its ruins. The cause of this lay in internal 
dissensions. The kingdom of the Visigoths, founded by Euric 
(466-484), was diminished by the conquests of Clovis in the 
north, and of the Byzantines in the south. In 687, King 
Leovigild restored its power by defeating the Suevi in Gallicia, 
while his successor, Beccared, drove out the Byzantines from the 
peninsula and even crossed into Africa. Civil dissensions, 
however, arose, and King Vitiza, who attempted reforms, was 
deposed by the clergy and the nobles in 710, and Boderic put 
in his place. The sons of Vitiza then called the Arabs to their 
assistance to avenge their father. 

The Moslem garrison of Ceuta sent an expedition into 
the peninsula, consisting of a force of 400 Africans and 
100 Arabians. They landed to the south of Moslem 
Algeciras, at a place now called Tarifa from the Invasion 
name of their leader Tarif, and returned in a of Spain, 
few days laden with booty and giving such an attractive 
account of the wealth and charms of the country that Musa, 
Emir of Africa, determined to attempt the conquest of it. 
The leave of the khalif of Damascus having been obtained, an 
army of 12,000 men was sent under the command of Tarik. It 
first attacked the famous rock which, like a couching lion, 
watches, as the outpost of England, over the straits, and which 
has ever since borne the name of its conqueror, Gibraltar, 
Gibal al Tarik, the mountain of Tarik. Having mastered this 
stronghold, Tarik met in conflict the governor of Andalusia, 
Boderic. The battle of Xeres de la Frontera lasted a whole 
week, beginning anew every morning. On the third day 
the fortunes of the Mussulmans were on the wane, when Tarik, 



280 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 570 to 

rising in his stirrups, cried, "Conquerors of Africa, whither will 
you flee? Behind you is the sea, before you is the foe. Follow 
your leader ; I am resolved either to die or to place my foot on 
the neck of the fallen enemy." At last the battle was won. 
Roderic escaped to find an inglorious death in an obscure river. 
The date of this great battle, which gave the mastery of Spain 
to the Moors, was July 19-26, 711. 

The victory of Tarik attracted crowds of invaders across the 

straits. Malaga fell, and then Granada. Cordova offered some 

Conquests resistance, but, after three months, was compelled 

and Fate of to open its gates. Toledo, the capital of the 

Tarik. Visigothic kingdom, was besieged by Tarik 

himself, and surrendered on honourable terms. The success of 

his lieutenant roused the jealousy of Musa, who, having tried in 

vain to recall him, made an expedition of his own. More cities 

fell before the onslaught of Tarik, but, when he heard of Musa's 

arrival, he hastened to his chief and laid the spoils of the 

Visigoths at his feet. His only reward was to be deprived of 

his rank and offices and to be cast into prison, from which he 

was with difficulty delivered. But in two years almost the 

whole of Spain was conquered, and the peninsula, from Gibraltar 

to the Pyrenees, obeyed the rule of the khalif of Damascus. 

Musa, like Tarik, the victim of jealousy, was recalled, and 

reluctantly obeyed the command. He set out in triumph from 

Ceuta to Damascus ; thirty waggons and countless 

f ^j. a e camels bore the riches of Africa and Spain, while 

four hundred Gothic nobles swelled his train ; his 

journey lasted for more than a year. When he reached Damascus, 

he found the khalif in the throes of death and Soliman ascended 

the throne. Musa was accused of embezzlement, found guilty, 

deprived of his property, and condemned to pay an enormous 

fine. At the age of seventy-eight, he was thrown into prison, 

scourged, and exposed on a pillory to the burning sun. His 

children were put to death, that they might not avenge the 

fate of their father, who died of a broken heart, while travelling 

as a beggar pilgrim on the road to Mecca. 

The despotic rule, the cruelty, avarice, and sensuality of the 
Ommaijads roused the opposition of righteous Moslems. Civil 
dissensions ensued, and there came to be three parties in the 
khalifate, — the Ommaijads, who reigned in Syria and Spain, the 
Fatimites in Arabia, and the Abbasids (descended from Abbas, 
the uncle of the prophet), in the Eastern provinces of Asia. 
At last, the Abbasids rose in rebellion, overthrew the Ommai- 



a.d. 802] RISE OF MOHAMMEDANISM 281 

jads, and founded the Abbasid khalifate, which reigned first in 
Damascus and afterwards in Bagdad. In order to secure their 
power, the Abbasids determined to exterminate y^ 
the whole race of the Ommaijads. Abdallah, Abbasid 
the uncle of the first Abbasid khalif, invited the Khalifate. 
leader of the Ommaijads to a feast at Damascus, under the 
pretence of making peace with them, and ninety of them made 
their appearance. At a given sign, they were all murdered, a 
large cloth was spread over their bodies, and the feast continued 
while some of them were still in the agonies of death. Only 
one, the famous Abderahman, escaped with great difficulty, took 
refuge in Spain, and founded there the emirate of Cordova, 
in 756. 

In the meantime, the empire of the East was beset by troubles. 
After the dynasty of Heraclius came to an end, it was succeeded 
by Leo III., the Isaurian, who reigned from 717 
to 741, and fought bravely against the Bulgarians T^aurian 
and the Arabs. He made a vigorous campaign 
against the use of pictures in the churches, which had come into 
a condition of great abuse. Wonder-working pictures and 
statues had become common, and were the cause of grievous 
superstition, which aroused the contempt and -p^e i cono . 
abhorrence of the Mussulmans to such an extent clastic 
that the representation of the human, or indeed Struggle, 
any animal, form was entirely forbidden by them. After Leo III. 
had borne these excesses with patience for nine years, he issued 
an edict, in 726, with the consent of his senators and bishops, 
that all pictures should be removed from the altars, and placed 
in a position where they could not be touched or worshipped. 
When this half measure only produced worse effects, he ordered, 
in 728, that all pictures of Christ, of the Virgin Mary, or of 
the saints and martyrs, should be removed from the churches 
and holy places, and broken to pieces. The bitter strife between 
the Iconodules and the Iconoclasts lasted for more than a 
hundred years, and threatened the throne and the empire with 
destruction. 

Leo was succeeded by Constantine V., who bore the insulting 
name of Copronymus, given him by the Iconodules, and then by 
Leo IV. (775-780). As Leo was in weak health, 
he was persuaded to associate with himself his f~" 

son Constantine, then four years old, in order to 
secure the succession. On his death, the Empress Irene, who 
was fond of pictures and kept them secretly in her bedroom, 



282 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 570-802 

became guardian of her son, and succeeded, with some difficulty, 
in establishing peace between the two parties. A synod, held at 
Nicaea in the autumn of 787, established, with the consent of 
the Eastern patriarch and of Pope Hadrian, that pictures might 
be reverenced by bending the knee, but not made objects of 
worship. When Constantine came to manhood, a quarrel arose 
between him and his mother, who wished to retain her power. 
She had to yield for a time, and Constantine VI., called 
Porphyrogenitus — that is, born in the purple chamber — reigned 
from 792 to 797. Irene, however, thirsted for revenge, and 
succeeded in casting her son into prison and blinding him, after 
which she reigned alone till 802. After her overthrow, the 
throne was occupied by a number of worthless emperors, raised 
to eminence by the army, and quickly deposed. Islam had 
Losses of deprived the Byzantine empire of many of its best 
the Eastern possessions in Asia and Africa, and had destroyed 
Empire. a ll traces of literature and learning in Alexandria, 

in Antioch, and in the other cities which the Moslems had 
conquered. But the Byzantine empire and the Eastern church 
continued to be a bulwark of good government and of religious 
life against the destruction which threatened both, and their 
history, entirely neglected, is a worthy object of study. 



CHAPTER II. 

CHARLEMAGNE AND HIS SUCCESSORS, 768-928. 

Charles the Great may be regarded as the Moses or Lycurgus 

of his age. He was, above everything else, the great lawgiver. 

The German and French legends do not take the 

same view of him, the first looking upon him as £; nar J es the 

administrator, judge, and legislator, the other as 

the type of the churchman, emperor, and crusader. The 

difference is characteristic of the two nations, as German 

development required above everything a peaceful administrator, 

and the French some one to represent in heroic guise their 

national culture and ambitions. 

Pepin during his reign had to deal with two great political 
factors, which the Carolingian age had inherited from the 
Merovingian, the church and the aristocracy, t^ Church 
At his accession, the first of these had been and the 
overpowered by the second, but he took unwearied Nobles, 
pains to raise the church to its former position, to give new 
order to the finances, to unite the bishops by the creation of 
synods, and to increase their administrative power. He, how- 
ever, neglected Boniface, whom he had made archbishop of 
Mainz, but whom he had not endowed with that primacy over 
the Frankish church which he earnestly desired. Boniface, 
in his disappointment, sought and found a martyr's death in 
Friesland. At the synod of Verneuil (755), the clergy were 
organised to deal vigorously with the lay aristocracy, whose 
leading family, the house of Arnulf, had reversed traditional 
policy by uniting with the church and the papacy. The pope 
compelled the lay nobility to recognise the new monarchy, but 
they were not altogether contented with their position. 

We have already seen that the division of the empire made 
by Pepin provided that each of his sons should have an inherit- 
ance composed of both Koman and German territories. But the 
two brothers were of different characters and pursued different 
policies. Carloman allied with the Lombard court; Bertha, 

283 



284 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 768 to 

the widow of Pepin, went herself to Italy and negotiated a 

marriage between Charles and the daughter of Desiderius. the 

Lombard king. But Charles was of a different 

Carioman" 1 milld ' and SGnt hiS Wife back t0 Pavia - When 
Carloman died in 771, his widow and his sons 

took refuge at the court of Desiderius, who put pressure on 

the pope to anoint the children of the elder brother and to 

oppose Charles. Upon this, Charles determined to have nothing 

to do with Italy for the present, but to devote his attention to 

Germany. At the age of twenty-six, he placed a great national 

task in the forefront of his policy, and took a line which was 

certain to be popular with his warlike aristocracy. 

There was no well defined frontier between the territories of 

the Franks and the Saxons, except forests and mountains, and 

there had been constant warfare between them. So Charles set 

~, , out from Worms in the year 772, after holding a 

Charles J „ . . & 

embarks on Champ de Mai. I he war was a war 01 religion, 

the Con- and the battle-fields of the Saxons are to be found 

quest of ni close proximity to their sanctuaries. Charles, 

the Saxons. cross i ng t h e Rhine, passed into Westphalia, 

captured the Eresburg, their fortress, destroyed the Irminsul, 

a sacred pillar or tree, and returned when the Saxons had agreed, 

upon the banks of the Weser, to deliver up to him twelve 

hostages. In the Champ de Mai of the year 773, at Geneva, 

it was resolved, at the pope's request, to attack 

Lombard ° f Desiderius - Charles avoided the nearest Alpine 

passes, which had been entrenched, crossed the 

Mont Cenis, sending another detachment over the great St. 

Bernard, and besieged the Lombards in Pavia and Verona. In 

the spring of 774, both surrendered ; Desiderius was taken 

prisoner, and compelled to enter a Frankish monastery. Charles 

became king of Lombardy in his place, but, for the present, 

made no alteration in the constitution of his new kingdom. 

During the absence of Charles, the Saxons invaded and 

plundered the frontier of Hesse. Charles invoked the aid of 

the church against his pagan enemies, and, holding a Mayfield 

at Diiren in 775, invaded Saxony anew. The Eastphalians 

submitted to him, and at last the Westphalians gave up their 

Settlement opposition to him. Charles then marched straight 

of Lorn- from his Saxon battle-fields into Italy, in order to 

bardy. put down a rebellion of the Duke of Friuli. He 

placed Frankish counts in the revolted towns, and transplanted 

Frankish institutions to Lombard soil. When the Saxons arose 



a.d. 928] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 285 

anew, he was able to exhibit such an overwhelming force that 
they submitted without a battle. These colossal successes could 
not have been brought about unless the Frankish empire had 
been consolidated on a firm basis by Pepin and Charles, the 
national army had been made efficient, and the lay and eccle- 
siastical elements had been so reconciled as to favour the 
growth of freedom. Charles was now able to hold the May- 
field of 777 at Paderborn. The Saxon king, Widikind, fled to 
Denmark. Huge numbers of Saxons came to be baptized, and 
received an amnesty from Charles on the condition that if they 
rose again they should lose their freedom and their property. In 
778, Charles, now regarded as a great Christian monarch, re- 
ceived an invitation from Soliman, viceroy of Saragossa, to attack 
the Moors in Spain. He stormed Pampeluna and Saragossa, 
subdued the country as far as the Ebro, and 
added it to his kingdom under the name of the g a r es m 
Spanish March. On his return over the Pyrenees, 
he suffered his first defeat, his rearguard, under Roland, being 
attacked by the Basques in the pass of Roncesvalles, and nearly 
all slaughtered, including their officers. 

During this campaign, the Frankish settlement of Saxony 
had been entirely destroyed by a new uprising, which may 
have been stirred up by the return of Widikind 
from Denmark, but took the form of a great renew™* 1 ™ 
national revolt. The Saxons laid waste the right 
bank of the Rhine from Deutz to Ehrenbreitstein with ruthless 
barbarity, which, considering the manner in which they had 
been treated, is not surprising. Charles, through his lieutenants, 
Geilo and Adalgis, succeeded in putting down this movement, 
and in restoring his organisation. The Saxons were unable 
to withstand the attack of the Frankish infantry. In 779, 
they were driven out of their entrenchments at Bocholt, and, 
in 780, the Franks penetrated to the north of Magdeburg, 
which made a great impression on the enemy. Many Saxons 
came into the Frankish camp to be baptized, and Charles had 
leisure to undertake the reduction of the Slavonic tribes to 
the east of the Elbe. 

It is not exactly known what means were taken by Charles 
to establish his authority in Saxony on a secure basis, but 
it is supposed that he deprived the Saxons of 
the allodial possession of land, making them ? saxonv 
feudatory to himself, and that he destroyed their 
guilds, which he knew to be the centres of disaffection. At 



286 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 768 to 

the end of 780, Charles went to Italy, where, at Easter 781, 
Pepin and Louis, his younger sons, were anointed by the pope 
as kings of Lombardy and Aquitaine, for Charles thought 
that, as he now held a firm central position between the 
Loire, the Alps, and the Saxon frontier, he might, without 
danger, allow a certain independence to Lombardy and Aqui- 
taine. 

Charles recognised that the church was the corner stone 

of his dominions ; he therefore entered into close connection 

with the pope, and made efforts to improve the 

S^ChuiS? intellectual condition of his clergy. In Italy, 

in 781, he met at Pavia the famous Anglo-Saxon 

scholar, Alcuin, and invited him to his court, and he attached 

to his service the Lombard Paulus Diaconus, as well as some 

learned Goths and Bavarians. He emancipated the clergy from 

the gloom of the cloister schools, and brought them into the 

cheerful atmosphere of his own court. 

In 782, Charles, lulled by a false security, met an attack 
of the Swabians on the left bank of the Saale with an army 
Further chosen from eastern Franconia, and even em- 

Revolts of ployed Saxons to assist him against the enemy, 
the Saxons. But, at this very time, Widikind came back ngain 
from Denmark, and organised a new revolt. Theodoric, a 
count of the lower Rhine, hastened to the Weser, and found 
the Frankish army in great danger. The commanders of the 
army, Geilo and Adalgis, parted from Theodoric, and made 
a separate attack on the main body of the Saxons, which led 
to their army being destroyed almost to a man. Charles 
hastened to the scene of danger with a new army, and held the 
Saxon nobles responsible for the disaster. They laid the blame 
on Widikind, who again fled to Denmark. They delivered 
up to Charles 4500 of Wiclikind's adherents, and it is said 
that he put them to death in a single day at Yerden on the 
Aller. However, in the following winter, the insurrection 
spread over the whole country, and Widikind again returned 
to find himself the chosen leader of the people. In 783, 
Charles summoned his army to meet at Paderborn. When 
he heard that the Saxons had concentrated themselves on the 
other side of the mountains at Detmold, he attacked and 
routed them, and returned to his former position. He now 
began the complete devastation of the country, and was so 
entirely occupied by the Saxon war that he spent the 
whole winter in the Eresburg. In 785, he passed on to 



ad. 928] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 287 

the basin of the lower Elbe, a country into which no foreign 
army had penetrated since the days of Tiberius. The Saxons 
were now reduced to order, but eight years later, in 793, they 
rose again. Charles adopted a statesmanlike policy towards 
them, treating them with kindness, and, at the same time, 
transplanting some of them into Franconia. Widikind and 
Abbio, another leader of the rebellious Saxons, were baptized 
at Attigny on the Aisne, Charles himself acting as godfather. 
Many thousands of the Saxon nohles and common people also 
became Christians and orderly subjects of the empire. 

While the efforts of Charles were concentrated upon the 
reduction of the Saxons, other discontented interests took the 
opportunity of asserting themselves. Hartrad of T rou bi es in 
Thuringia rebelled in 785 ; the inhabitants of Brittany, 
Brittany refused tribute in 786 ; and, in the same Italy, and 
year, the Lombard duke, Arichis of Benevento, Bavaria, 
who had attempted to establish an independent kingdom in 
southern Italy, was compelled to make his submission to Charles 
in Campania. In the following year the conduct of Duke Tassilo 
of Bavaria became so suspicious that Charles was obliged to 
suppress him, and attacked his dominions from three sides. 
Tassilo gave way without a contest, and in the following year, 
being deserted by his own nobles, he was shut up with his son 
in a monastery. After this, Charles took possession of Bavaria 
and administered it on the Frankish system. In 789, he crossed 
the Elbe and subdued the Wilzen and the Serbs, both Slavonic 
races. The historians tell us that the king undertook no 
campaign in 790, the first year of the reign in which there had 
been no war. > 

Charles the Great is the most illustrious of the family of 
Arnulf . The whole political work of his predecessors culminated 
in him. The talents of his family for civil and Adminis- 
military rule reached in him an elevation which tration of 
they had never before attained. Yet there was the Empire. 
nothing weak or luxurious in his nature, and he was able to 
move in complete security in a region where his predecessors, 
with enormous labour, had created order out of chaos. Charles 
Martel and Pepin had lived, so to speak, from hand to mouth, 
but Charles the Great conceived and called into being a well- 
ordered administration, which, out of raw materials, was welded 
into a living and effective whole. He accomplished this task 
by his personality alone. It is true that his inherited political 
capacity and his own statesmanlike understanding far surpassed 



288 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 768 to 

the ordinary level of his time, but he knew how to put a proper 
man in the proper place and to inspire the different sections of 
his people with enthusiasm for the carrying out of his ideas. 
He made his court the centre of the civil and ecclesiastical 
aristocracy, the place where all important negotiations were 
undertaken and all serious decisions were made. In the Mero- 
vingian time the palace was already the centre of govern- 
ment, as we have already said, but there had been many changes 
in the interval. The mayor of the palace had now disappeared ; 
the chamberlains, who were previously under his orders, had 
become officials of the royal treasury. The seneschal and the 
butler still held their offices, and the marshal looked after the 
royal stables. Under these officers there was a whole army of 
public servants, divided into their proper sections. The sons of 
the Frankish nobles were willing to perform the services and to 
familiarise themselves with the views of the court. There were 
also a door-keeper, Ostiarius, and a quarter-master, Mansion- 
arms. The business of the kingdom was separated into two 
great sections. The civil business passed through the hands of 
the count of the palace, the comes palatimis, called in German 
the Pfalzgraf, or count palatine ; the ecclesiastical business 
through the hand of the chaplain. He had charge of the 
capella of the imperial bedchamber, in which the cappa or 
mantle of Saint Martin, which he divided with the beggar, was 
preserved, and this was the origin of the name. 

This complicated court had no fixed residence, but wandered 
with the king from palace to palace. The Merovingian domain 

between the Moselle, the Rhine, and the Scheldt 
e oya j m j j^^ ac | c i ec | to the possessions of the house 

of Pepin. Among new acquisitions were the 
crown lands of Lombardy, considerable possessions in Saxon)', 
the property which had belonged to the dukes of Bavaria and 
Allemannia, and many districts on the frontier. There is no 
doubt that Charles was the largest landed proprietor of his 
empire, and on that depended the magnificence of his court 
and his predominance in his diets. He paid the greatest 
attention to the management of his property, and his domestic 
economy was a model for the whole kingdom, especially for the 
church. His chief palaces were Compiegne and Kiersy on the 
Oise, Attigny on the Aisne, Heristal on the Meuse, Duren 
on the Roer ; Aachen, Metz, Thionville, and Trier on the 
Moselle ; Nijmegen, Ingelheim, Worms, and Spires on the Rhine. 
Charles also built a palace at Frankfort on the Main, and he 



a.d. 928] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 289 

had many hunting lodges in different forests. All these palaces 
were centres from which revenue might be derived. 

After he had subdued the Bavarians, Charles attempted to 
secure peace in the south-east of his dominions, and began to 
attack the Avars. When the Lombards had re- Charles 
moved from Pannonia into Italy, the plundering attacks the 
Avars, a race closely related to the Huns, had Avars, 
settled in what is now Hungary, where they formed a barrier 
to relations between the East and the West. Charles waged 
against them a war of extermination for eight years, from 791 to 
798. In the first campaign he drove them back beyond what 
was called the Wiener Wald, the wooded country which sur- 
rounded Vienna. His son Pepin captured their capital and 
treasure, conquered their lands between the Danube and the 
Theiss, even as far as the Raab, and added them to the Frankish 
empire under the name of the Ostmark, or Eastern March, the 
future Austria. Whilst he was thus engaged, a new Saxon 
revolt broke out in 793, which lasted, with some interruptions, 
till 797, and had to be broken by systematic devastation of the 
country. In that year, Charles summoned a portion of the 
Saxon nobles to Aachen, and made with them a new capitulation. 

The empire of Charlemagne now extended from the Eider, 
the frontier river of Denmark, to the Ofanto, the ancient 
Aufidus of Italy ; and the whole world admired 
the marvellous ability with which he ordered t ifeErnr?ire 
his mighty kingdom and swayed the conflicting 
interests of so many different peoples. He endeavoured to 
meet the new problems to which the extent of his empire gave 
rise by new institutions, one of which had its origin in Mero- 
vingian times, while the other was due to himself. The missi 
dominici, who were generally counts or bishops, had the duty 
of travelling about certain districts, in which they could hold 
courts, receive complaints against the counts, publish the edicts 
of the diets, examine the condition of the domains, and exercise 
general control over civil and ecclesiastical matters. The other 
institution was the creation of Markgrafen, 
margraves, in Latin marchiones et praefedi Mareraves 
limitum, whose duty it was to preserve the peace 
of Germany by an active and well regulated defence of the 
frontiers. The office of the margrave was to prevent sudden 
inroads of frontier enemies, to command the forces of the 
neighbouring districts, and summon the population of the march 
to war. The margrave also had the privilege of reporting 

T 



2Q0 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 768 to 

directly to the diet, instead of to the king, which gave him a 
certain independence. After the conquest of the Avars, Charles 
founded an Avarian March, in the south-east, which bordered 
on the Friulian March to the south of the Alps. He created a 
Spanish March south of the Pyrenees, and established a similar 
institution on the frontiers of Brittany and in the Slavonic 
districts of Saxony. 

It is scarcely to be wondered at that Charles should have 
conceived the idea of re-establishing the Roman empire. He 
Education was unceasingly occupied in bringing about a 
and union between the civil and ecclesiastical culture 

Literature, of his time ; in order to raise his people to a 
higher standard of education, be revived the palace school and 
the bishops' schools. He attempted to inspire the higher society 
with a knowledge of Roman culture, and to give them literary 
education. The first great history of the empire dates from 
788. In 796, Alcuin was made abbot of the monastery of 
Saint Martin at Tours, and undertook the management of the 
schools in that place. The degradation of the Latin language 
was gradually stopped. We find in the literary monuments of the 
time — the writings of Eginhard, of Peter of Pisa, of Paulus 
Diaconus — a purer Latinity than before. After long neglect, 
the old literature came to life again in the circles of the 
Carolingian court and the Carolingian church. 

From the year 797, there was no male representative of the 
empire at Byzantium. The patriarch of Jerusalem sent the 
Coronation keys of the Holy Sepulchre to Charles as the 
of Charles representative of Christianity. In 799, Pope 
at Rome. Leo III., driven out from his bishopric, applied 
for assistance to Charles at Paderborn, and Charles soon re- 
established his authority at Rome. In the following year, he 
travelled to Italy, and on Christmas Day, 800, a memorable date 
in the history of the world, was crowned emperor by Leo III. 
in the church of Saint Peter's. Eginhard tells us that the act 
of crowning came upon Charles as a surprise. It has been 
suggested, on various grounds, that several of the king's 
councillors had conceived the idea of reviving the Western 
empire, but it is probable that Charles would not have deter- 
mined upon this step unless he had first come to an arrange- 
ment with Byzantium. Negotiations may have begun, but the 
pope made the coronation an accomplished fact. 

In the last years of his life, Charles did his" best to perform 
his religious duties with the greatest zeal. He felt that he 



a.d. 928] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 291 

was truly the head not only of his kingdom but also of the 
Christian church. At the same time, he strove to make the 
acts of his administration acceptable to his people, p ij cy f 
and he never aimed at an absolute monarchy. The Charles — ■ 
edicts which he published with regard to criminal The Feudal 
and civil law were not only drawn up in accord- System, 
ance with popular rights, but laid before the "hundreds" by 
the king's messengers, and discussed by them before they were 
finally adopted. It was natural that a government founded on 
these lines should develop into a feudal empire, and we find the 
essential principle of feudalism — that is, the performance of 
public duties, depending upon and conditioned by the holding of 
public land — developed in the reign of Charles himself. 

In the closing years of his reign, Charles withdrew more and 
more into Aachen, and his palace in that city naturally became 
more and more the centre of his government. 
Eginhard represents him here as in the midst . a F es a 
of social and political circles, which he impresses 
with the stamp of his genius. It is a stimulating spectacle to 
see how this really good and really great man endeavoured to 
give his government the security and the permanence and the 
strength which might be able to inspire his rough and half 
heathen subjects with new ideas of culture. A popular king of 
the old German type, ordering the administration of his posses- 
sions with the carefulness of a wealthy peasant, on the principles 
of a simple and natural economy, yet at the same time clothed 
with the dignity of a Christian monarch, he was the last and 
best result of a cultivation which was now tending to disappear. 
In his court, the chiefs of the different tribes which composed 
his empire found the social life, the natural splendour, and the 
new-born art of their own civilisation, and the clergy of his wide 
dominions recognised in the emperor the head of their united 
church. The union of conflicting tendencies in the focus of a 
well organised imperial palace, and in a richly endowed per- 
sonality, produced that brilliant society which, for nearly half 
a century, held the whole of the civil and ecclesiastical community 
breathless, and claimed the admiration of the civilised world. 

It is strange that Charles, with his inexhaustible political 
activity, had not too clear a conception of the unity of his empire 
to arrange for the partition of it after his death, -j^e Suc . 
But he may have been led to this decision partly cession to 
by the custom of the Franks, partly by the feeling the Empire, 
that the empire was too large for the strength of a single man. 



292 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 768 to 

The death of his two sons, Charles and Pepin, made the partition 
impossible to carry out, and Louis of Aquitaine remained the 
only heir. The death of these princes was a piece of good 
fortune for the church. Since the Benedictine rule had been 
introduced into the monasteries, the quarrels in the church, 
arising from the differences between the secular and the regular 
clergy, had begun to disappear. The church had become a 
powerful uniform organisation. Similarly, the unity of the 
Frankish empire, and its government by one man, had become 
an article of faith. When it became certain that Louis would 
inherit the whole of the empire, Charles saw clearly that a well 
organised church would be the best support of the inheritance 
which he placed in the hands of his son. In the year 812, he 
had the whole of the church property in his empire appraised 

and valued, and, in the following year, Louis 
r f a . ° was recognised as his successor, and crowned by 

Charles himself at Aachen. On January 28, 814, 
Charles died in that imperial city, where the marble throne 
upon which his corpse rested may still be seen. 

Charles was no great winner of battles like Theodoric. He 
only fought in two open fields, at Detmold and on the Haase. 
But he was the greatest mayor of the palace of the house of 
Pepin. He was one of those natures who, like Napoleon, take 
a delight in administi'ation, who derive a moral satisfaction from 
the order, security, and permanence of their economical manage- 
ment. The great difference between him and Theodoric was 
that the position of the German tribes had entirely altered. 
Theodoric had regarded his Goths as soldiers, his Romans as 
workers. But the Goths themselves had now become workers. 
Military movements stood still, and Charles found himself at 
the head of a people which was mainly devoted to agriculture. 

The greatness of Charles is to be found not so much in 
the complete organisation of his administration as in the fact 
that he produced so many new ideas. He leaves the impression 
of a man who had entirely devoted himself to great duties, 
and was ever seeking to accomplish new tasks. Even if the 
immediate results of his government may be regarded as small, 
he had an enormous moral effect ; and the greatest result of 
all is that he recovered for the German races a fixed form in 
their articulation, and that he exhibits to the world the ideal 
of a great statesman. He had reigned for forty-seven years. 
His embalmed body was buried at Aachen, seated on a marble 
chair, dressed in the full paraphernalia of an emperor, a 



ad. 028] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 293 

golden book of the Gospels on his knees, and a golden pilgrim's 
wallet at his side. The tomb was filled with precious spices, 
and then walled up and sealed. 

Just after the defeat of Roncesvalles, Charles the Great 
heard that his wife Hildegarde had borne him twins. One 
of them died in his second year : the other, Louis, 
was destined from his cradle to be king. At the p ious 
age of three, he was anointed and crowned by 
Pope Hadrian, in Rome, as king of Aquitaine, and he appeared, 
four years later, in his father's camp at Paderborn, in Basque 
dress, surrounded by a train of followers. He was carefully 
brought up, and promised to be a worthy successor ; but he 
showed, as he grew up, that he was too much given to attend 
to the advice of others, that he was too strictly devoted to 
the affairs of religion, and that he wanted the decision and 
the strength of character to make him a great king. He was 
absolutely free from vice, but he was deficient in the great 
virtues. He was called a Bible-reader and a Psalm-singer, and 
his nephew Bernhard was thought to be better suited for the 
throne. Pope Leo III. died in June 816, and was succeeded 
by Stephen IV., whose first act was to pay Louis a visit in 
France. In October 816, he crowned the king and queen 
in the cathedral at Reims with crowns which he had brought 
from Rome. Stephen died soon after his return, and was 
succeeded, on February 28, 817, by Paschal I., pious, peace- 
ful, prudent, and determined. 

Louis now decided to divide the kingdom, which he did not 
feel strong enough to govern for himself, amongst his three 
sons. He associated his eldest son, Lothar, in 
the government with himself, confirmed Pepin, t^E^iTe 
the second son, in the government of Aquitaine, 
and gave Louis, the youngest, the kingdom of Bavaria. The 
unity of the empire and of the church was to be maintained. 
His nephew Bernhard, the son of his brother Pepin, to whom 
Charles had committed the government of Italy, was not 
pleased with these arrangements, upon which Louis had him 
condemned to death. He reprieved him, but cast him into 
prison, and blinded him, so that he died a few days afterwards. 
Shortly after this, Louis' wife died, and his sorrow for this 
loss, and remorse for his treatment of Bernhard, made him 
wish to abdicate and retire into a monastery. But his coun- 
cillors persuaded him to marry again, and he took for his 
second consort Judith, or Jutta, the daughter of Count Welf 



294 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 768 to 

of Bavaria, a beautiful but ambitious woman. She bore him 
a son, known afterwards as Charles the Bald. This made 
a new division of the empire necessary, and Charles, when 
six years old, was made duke of Allemannia. Also by the 
influence of Judith, Bernhard of Barcelona was raised to a 
higher position in the court. The result of this was that, 
in the year 830, the sons of Louis rose against their father, 
compelled him to get rid of Judith and Bernhard, and, after 
the treacherous negotiations which gave its name to the 
Liigenfeld, in the neighbourhood of Colmar, imprisoned him 
in 833. 

Lothar locked his father up in a prison at Soissons, and 

compelled him to do penance and even to abdicate the throne ; 

but the younger Louis disapproved of Lothar's conduct, set 

the emperor free, and placed him once more upon the throne. 

Pepin died in 838, and a new partition became necessary, and 

this so diminished the share of Louis that he took up arms 

to defend his rights. When a battle was imminent, however, 

he hesitated to attack his father, and retired to Bavaria, but 

Death of Louis the Pious, worn out with domestic troubles, 

Louis the retired to an island on the Rhine near Ingelheim, 

Pious. where he died on June 20, 840, aged sixty-two. 

He deserves the title of Pious which has always been given 

to him, but he exhibits all the qualities, and underwent all 

the miseries, of an incompetent ruler. 

Lothar naturally regarded himself as the successor to the 
imperial power, but this was disputed by his brothers, and 
Louis the German, as he is called, and Charles 
of Ver^fun^ ^ ie Bald defeated him in 841 — at Fontenay, in 
the neighbourhood of Auxerre. The result of 
this was the treaty of Verdun, in 843, in which a final partition 
of the empire was made. Lothar took the title of emperor, 
with Italy, Provence, Burgundy, Trier, and the Ripuarian 
country as far as the sea, together with Friesland. This gave 
him a central position, but a kingdom without cohesion, com- 
posed of conflicting elements, which has been a bone of con- 
tention and a cause of war in Europe ever since. Louis 
obtained for his share almost the whole of what is now known 
as Germany ; Charles, what is now known as France, together 
with the Spanish March. Thus were created France and 
Germany, to contend against each other as enemies, and a 
middle kingdom which should be coveted by and alternately 
belong to both. If Louis the Pious had left two sons in- 



a.d. 928] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 295 

stead of three, the destiny of the world might have been 
different. 

With Louis the German, the ablest and most capable of the 
sons of Louis the Pious, began the line of Carolingian kings of 
Germany, which lasted till 911. It was their 
task to protect their possessions against three g 0mS e 
powerful enemies — the Norman Vikings, who, 
sailing from harbours round the Scandinavian coasts, attacked 
the shores of France and Germany, and burned many towns, 
such as Pairs, Orleans, Toulouse, Cologne, Bern, and even Ham- 
burg ; the Slavs, who made continual incursions from the frontier 
of the Elbe ; and the Magyars, the inhabitants of Hungary, who 
caused a great deal of trouble. Louis, who resided in Regens- 
burg, had also much difficulty with his own sons, Karlmann, 
Louis, and Charles. 

In 855, the Emperor Lothar laid down his crown, and retired 
to the monastery of Priim, having divided his empire between 
his three sons, Louis II., Lothar, and Charles. 
Charles died in 863, and Lothar without issue in f fL r ^ a y 
869, upon which an arrangement was made at 
Mersen, not far from Maastricht, in 870, between Louis the 
German and Charles the Bald, by which the German portion 
of Lothar's dominions went to Germany, and was strengthened 
by the addition of Trier, Cologne, Aachen, Utrecht, Metz, and 
Strasburg. By this, the Rhine became a German river. The 
Emperor Louis II. died in 875, the last of Lothar's male 
descendants. Louis the German ought properly to have suc- 
ceeded to the empire with Italy, but Charles the Bald contrived 
to outwit him, and, with the assistance of Pope John VIII., got 
these dominions for himself, and was crowned king of Italy. 
As Louis was preparing to defend his rights, he died at Frank- 
fort, on August 28, 876, being more than seventy years of age. 

Louis the German's three sons, Kallmann, Louis, and Charles 
known as the Fat, effected a partition among themselves, by 
which Karlmann received Bavaria, Carinthia, The Later 
Bohemia, and Moravia ; Louis Franconia, Saxony, Carolin- 
and Thuringia ; Charles Allemannia and Rhaetia. gians. 
But a succession of unexpected deaths spoilt all these plans. 
After a famous assembly at Kiersy, Charles the Bald, and 
his wife Richildis, went with an army over the Alps, carrying 
with them many treasures. Pope John VIII. hastened from 
Ravenna to Pavia, where, in August 877, resolutions were 
passed against the alienation of church property and against 



296 A GENERAL HISTORY (a.d. 768 to 

placing it under the feudal system. But, when he heard that 
Kallmann, the son and heir of Louis the German, had invaded 
Lombardy with a large army, Charles hastened to Tortona, 
where Richildis was crowned empress by the pope, after 
which she returned over the Alps with the treasure. Charles 
remained behind with the pope, hoping for the arrival of the 
Frankish nobles whom he had summoned to his assistance, but 
when they did not appear, fearing what Karlmann might do, he 
set out to join his wife, while Pope John retired to Eome. 
Death of There he heard that Charles had died on October 

Charles the 13, in a poor peasant's hut, after he had received 
Bald. a powder from a Jewish doctor. He had wished 

to be buried at Saint Denis, but the escort could not support 
the smell of his body, and he was hastily put into the earth at 
a monastery near Lyons. 

Karlmann now came into northern Italy. He assumed the 
crown of Lombardy, and wished to be crowned emperor by the 
The Pope pope in Eome, but the pontiff contrived to keep 
and the him at a distance. John, not feeling himself safe 

Crown. in his capital from the attacks of the Saracens, 

desired to proceed to France and to continue his negotiations 
with Karlmann in that country. But Louis the Stammerer, son 
of Charles the Bald, now advanced against Karlmann, who, 
being attacked by an infectious illness, retired to Germany. 
John's rebellious vassals had shut the pope up in the Leonine 
ftity, and endeavoured to compel him to crown Karlmann. He, 
however, escaped, and went to France, and, accompanied by 
Boso, the brother of the Empress Richildis, came to Compiegne, 
where, assisted by Hincmar of Reims, he crowned the stammer- 
ing Louis as king of the French. 

John remained in France for a year, attempting to find a 
sovereign who had sufficient capacity and devotion to the Holy 
See to deliver the pope from the attacks of the Saracens and 
the insults of his smaller vassals. He was strongly tempted to 
crown Boso king of Italy. Boso was nothing loth ; indeed, he 
poisoned his first wife in order to marry Engelberga, the only 
daughter of Louis the German. But the princes of northern 
Italy were not prepared to receive an adventurer in the place of 
Karlmann. Karlmann himself, on his return to Germany, lost 
his speech, and was incapable of further action — dying in 
880. His brother Louis the Young took his place, and Louis 
the Stammerer died suddenly at Compiegne on April 10, 879, 
leaving behind him two sons by his first wife, Ansgard, Louis 



a.d. 928] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 297 

III. and Kallmann, while a posthumous child was born to him 
by his second wife, Adelheid, who was afterwards known as 
Charles the Simple, and lived till 928. 

Louis the Young, second son of Louis the German, now 
claimed the West Frankish throne, but was finally worsted 
by Louis III., son of Louis the Stammerer, and died early in 
882. His youngest brother, Charles the Fat, was crowned 
king of Italy in 879. Meanwhile Boso made himself king 
of lower Burgundy. Hugo, bastard son of Lothar II. and 
Waldrada, seized Lorraine ; and the Normans threatened both 
the Loire and the North Sea coast. Hence in 880, at Gondreville, 
Charles the Fat met the envoys of Louis the Young and the 
West Frankish king, and concerted the overthrow of Hugo, 
which was achieved, and of Boso, which was prevented by 
the departure of Charles, in the moment of victory, to be 
crowned emperor by John VIII. at Rome, in 881. Karlmann, 
Charles' eldest brother, dying the year before, had left a famous 
bastard son, Arnulf of Carinthia. 

In 882 — the year of Louis the Young's death — Louis III. 
died also, suddenly, in consequence of a fall from his horse, 
and his younger brother, Karlmann, was summoned to succeed 
him. But death was busy to interrupt the plans of men. 
Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, who had been driven from 
his cathedral, and had to take refuge from the Normans in 
Epernay, died in December 882, followed by public mourning. 
Pope John VIII. was murdered in the same month by con- 
spirators who found poison too slow to effect their object. He 
was succeeded first by Marinus, and then by Hadrian III. 
Then Karlmann perished, from a wound received in a boar 
hunt, on December 12, 884, at the age of eighteen, and Charles 
the Fat became king of all the Franks, east Charles the 
aud west. Charles the Simple, a child of four Fat, King of 
years old, although he was the rightful king the whole 
of the West Franks, was thought too young to Empire, 
hold the sceptre of the tottering kingdom. Charles the Fat 
was now at the height of his ambition, and he did his best, 
by craft and diplomacy, to effect what he hail not the strength 
or the determination to do otherwise. He murdered the Viking 
Gottfried, blinded his rival Hugo, defeated the Normans, to 
whom he had refused the tribute which they had received 
from Karlmann, and attempted to secure the succession for 
his natural son, Bernhard. He was supported in this by 
Pope Hadrian, but the pontiff died suddenly in June 885, 



298 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 768 to 

and was siicceeded by Stephen V., who was elected without 
asking the consent of Charles. And as Charles became more 
weak and impotent, and the whole land was full of trouble, 
and a strong emperor was eminently necessary, in 888 he was 
at last deposed, and Arnulf, son of Karlmann, was 
King lfmadG elected kin g of the Germans, and reigned till 899. 
Charles died shortly afterwards, and was buried 
on the island of Reichenau, in the lake of Constance. Men 
felt that the rapid succession of these deaths was a sign of 
divine intervention in human affairs, and those who attended 
Charles saw the heavens open as he died, and believed that 
it was meant to show that he passed to a heaven of which he 
was worthy, from an earth which brought him nothing but 
trouble and disappointment. Arnulf did not succeed to the 
German crown without difficulty, because his illegitimate birth 
stood in his way. He spent the first months of his reign — ■ 
indeed the greater part of his time — in Regensburg, which was 
at that time the chief city of Bavaria. He secured the ad- 
herence of Henry Welf, belonging to the most distinguished 
race of southern Germany, to the disappointment of his father 
Edico II., who had his castles on the Boden See. 

In the west, the kingdom of the Carlings began to break 
up and several princes asserted their independence. The most 
Anarchy in prominent of these was Odo of Paris, who, in 
the Western reward for his exploits against the Normans, had 
Kingdom. become count of Paris, abbot of Tours, and count 
of Anjou, and had been crowned king at Compiegne by the 
archbishop of Sens. Fulco, archbishop of Reims, who was the 
rival of his brother of Sens, preferred the claims of Guido of 
Spoleto, and Guido hastened across the Alps to secure the 
prize, but had to retire to Italy, where he attempted to wrest 
the iron crown from Berengar of Friuli. Meanwhile, virtual 
independence was secured by Alan of Brittany, by Ranulf in 
Aquitaine, by Boso's son Louis in the kingdom of Aries, and 
by Rudolf I. in Upper Burgundy. In Italy, Guido of Spoleto 
succeeded in being crowned emperor by Pope Stephen V. in 
St. Peter's Church at Rome on February 21, 891, taking the 
title of Augustus. But he had neither power nor prestige. 
Benevento, in central Italy, set itself up as an independent 
duchy, reckoning itself as a part of the Lombard kingdom. 
Meanwhile, Arnulf's determination to make his bastard son 
Zwentibald king of Lorraine led him to intervene in the civil 
war in France, where first Charles the Simple, son of Louis 



a.d. 928] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 299 

the Stammerer (who was crowned on January 28, 893), and 
then his rival, Odo, acknowledged himself a vassal of the 
German king, in order to secure his assistance. Zwentibald 
obtained Lorraine as an independent kingdom, but his violence 
and misrule assured his ultimate downfall : otherwise the new 
realm might have seriously weakened the German monarchy. 
In France, meanwhile, on January 1, 898, Odo died, and his 
supporters then transferred their allegiance to Charles the 
Simple. 

Rudolf of Upper Burgundy, however, and Berengar of 
Friuli still remained undisturbed, and Arnulf was attacked by 
Svatopluk the Slav, by the Normans in the Netherlands, and by 
Bernhard, the natural son of Charles the Fat, in Allemannia. 
Arnulf, however, showed himself a worthy sue- Arnulf 
cessor of Louis the German, and in the battle maintains 
of the Dyle, fought on November 1, 891, defeated himself in 
the Normans and returned triumphant to Ulm. Germany. 
Four very distinguished men received ecclesiastical preferment 
at his hands, Hatto of Mainz, Saloman of Constance, Adalbero 
of Augsbui-g, and Hermann of Cologne. Also the house of the 
Conradins, descended from Alpais, daughter of Louis the Pious, 
and their rivals, the Babenbergers, began to make their appear- 
ance. 

Arnulf now turned his arms against Svatopluk, with the aid 
of the Hungarians or Magyars. These newly arrived warriors, 
armed with bows and arrows, like the ancient Arnulf's 
Parthians, were the best fighters of their time. Wars 
They were also assisted by the Chazars, a mixed with the 
race, comprising Christians, heathens, and Moham- Slavs, 
medans, but formidable in war. Their capital was Itil, at the 
mouth of the Volga. In 892, Arnulf crossed the Moravian 
border, and attacked Svatopluk, but without success, but 
Svatopluk died in 894, and his kingdom fell to pieces. The 
Magyars, attacked by the Petschengs, who established them- 
selves between the Danube and the Don, now invaded Moravia 
and Pannonia, and, mastering the country between the Danube 
and the Theiss, became a menace to Arnulf himself. The Avars 
and the Slavic nations whom they expelled went into Italy, 
defeated Bishop Liutbold at Vercelli, and assailed Venice, but 
were driven back from the Rialto by the Doge Peter. Attacked 
by Berengar on their retreat, they fought a battle against the 
Lombards on the Brenta, and devastated their country. They 
continued their plundering in Germany, and were at last 



3oo A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 768 to 

brought to order by Arpad, who is regarded as the first king of 

Hungary. In 895, Arnulf went to Rome and was crowned 

emperor by the pope, Formosus, in April 896, but fell ill and had 

to hasten back. Formosus died immediately afterwards. His 

successor, Boniface VI., only held the tiara for a fortnight, 

and Stephen VI. had the body of Formosus dug up, formally 

tried, and condemned to death, upon which it was dragged 

along the streets and thrown into the Tiber. His remains were 

afterwards recovered, and buried in St. Peter's. Five popes 

succeeded each other in two years. At last 

Ar ulf Arnulf died in 899 — it was said, of course, by 

poison — and was followed by his son, Louis the 

Child, who was only seven years old, and whose chief supporter 

was Hatto of Mainz. 

The weak hands of this boy could not keep the empire to- 
gether, and dukes, who were almost independent, began to 
End of the make their appearance. Zwentibald in Lorraine 
Line of was attacked by Gebhard, and slain at the battle 

Louis the of the Meuse in 900, upon which the conqueror 
German. married his widow, Ota, and claimed his inherit- 

ance. Gebhard was attacked by the Conradins, and this brought 
their enemies, the Babenbergers, the descendants of Count 
Poppo of Thuringia, to Gebhard's aid. But the Babenbergers 
were defeated, and Gebhard was killed by the Hungarians. 
Louis the Child was strengthened by his death, but he died 
himself on August 20, 911, without distinction or reputation, 
and with him the line of Charles the Great passed away from 
the soil of Germany like a mountain mist, and we enter into 
a new period by the election of Conrad the Frank as German 
king in 911. 

The names given to the later Calling kings, the Bald, the 
Fat, the Stammerer, the Simple, are indications of the slight 
Decay of respect in which they were held, and both their 
the Royal qualities and their power corresponded to their 
Power. nicknames. After Charles the Bald, the royal 

power depended upon the joint support of the nobles, the clergy, 
and the people ; the property of the crown had been long in the 
hands of the great vassals, and feudal investiture had become 
nothing more than a form. The power of the Callings fell like 
that of the Merwings, except that, in one case, it passed to an 
individual, in another to a number of successors. In the 
dukedoms, margravates, and counties into which their terri- 
tories were divided, royal authority was merely a shadow. They 



ad. 928] CHARLEMAGNE AND SUCCESSORS 301 

filled up the whole of the Frankish empire, except Burgundy, 
which had become a kingdom, and the western coast, where the 
ISormans had established themselves, and each lord had his own 
vassal under him. In these circumstances, Charles the Simple, 
who reigned from 893 to 929, was not able to perform his duties 
with vigour or success. At this time, the leader of the Nor- 
mans was Duke Rollo or Roll, a man of noble Th e 
family from More in Norway, who, after a wild Duchy of 
life as a Viking, established himself in Rouen. Normandy. 
Charles determined to make peace with the powerful invader. 
Accompanied by Robert, Odo's successor in the duchy of 
Francia, and the bishop of Rouen, he met Rollo at Saint Clair 
on the Epte, and offered him the country between the Epte and 
the coast as an hereditary duchy, with suzerainty over Brittany, 
on the condition that he should acknowledge the king as his 
lord and assist in protecting the realm. Rollo agreed, took 
the oath of allegiance, and married the daughter of Charles, 
Gisela. The people of Brittany, however, resisted this arrange- 
ment for thirty years. 

The settlement with the Normans removed one danger, but in 
923 Robert, duke of Francia, repudiated Charles and declared 
himself king. This was more than even Charles £ n(i of the 
could put up with, and, in June 923, he defeated Line of 
and killed Robert in the battle of Soissons, which Charles the 
would have been a complete victory had not Bald. 
Hugo, the son of Robert, escaped with a number of followers, 
and, burning for revenge, which he was not able to execute 
himself, made his brother-in-law Rudolf of Burgundy king. 
Rudolf got possession of Charles and imprisoned him in Chateau 
Thierry, while his son Louis and his wife Edgiva found a 
refuge in England with his brother-in-law, King Aethelstan. 
In 928, Charles was allowed to escape, but was recaptured 
and died in 929. There remained his son Louis, known as 
d'Outremer, from his residence across the seas, and in 936 
he was recognised as king by Hugo, who had succeeded his 
father Robert as duke of Francia, Louis being then sixteen 
years of age. But Hugo, now called the Great, was really 
king of France ; the nobles rose against Louis, and, after 
a number of struggles which our limits will not allow 
us to narrate, he was killed in 954 by a fall from his 
horse, in the thirty-third year of his age. Just before his 
death he saw Laon, Chalons, and Reims plundered by the 
Hungarians. He was not an unworthy scion of the race of 



302 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 768-928 

Charles the Great, but circumstances were far too powerful 
for him to control. 

The disappearance of the Carlings had a disastrous effect 
upon Italy. The papacy fell into the power of the robber 
Degrada- knights of the Campagna, who called themselves 
tion of the consuls or senators. At the beginning of the 
Papacy. tenth century, eight popes were set up and 

deposed within eight years, until Sergius III. was able to 
retain the tiara for ten years, from 904 to 914. The lowest 
depth of the papacy was reached under John X. (914 to 928), 
who came under the influence of two women of bad character, 
Theodora and her daughter Marozia, who distributed the 
honours and wealth of the papacy as they pleased between 
their favourite sons and grandsons. John himself was not 
without merit. He obtained the assistance of Alberic, a 
knight-errant of Lombard race, who married Marozia, and, 
on June 14, 916, defeated the Moors on the Garigliano and 
put an end to their incursions into France. However, Marozia, 
who, after Alberic's death had married Guido of Tuscany, 
threw John X. into prison and murdered him. She then 
became mistress of Rome, took the title of Patricia, made 
her own son Pope, under the title of John XL, and tyrannised 
over church and state. After Guido's death, she married 
King Hugo of Italy, who expected to be crowned emperor 
by his stepson, John XL, but this was prevented by the rise 
of another stepson, Alberic II., who drove Hugo away and 
became master of Rome, which he ruled for twenty years — a 
period of the lowest moral degradation. 



CHAPTER III. 

1. THE NORSEMEN— THE DANES IN ENGLAND, 835-1042. 

We have often had occasion to mention the Normans, and 
must now give some account of the country from which they 
came. We will begin with the year 600, about i^g Scandi- 
which time the Ingling Ingjald Ildrada attempted navian 
to establish himself as overlord of Sweden, but Kingdoms, 
failed, and fell, with all his race. Ivan the Wild was then 
elected king, and was succeeded by Harold Hildetand, who 
reigned over Iceland, Schonen, and Gothland, and was the 
mightiest king in the North. Old and blind, he was defeated 
in the battle of Bravalla by his nephew Sigurd Ring, to whom 
he had already surrendered Sweden. Sigurd Ring became 
king of Sweden and Denmark, followed by Ragnar Lodbrok, 
whose sons, Bjorn Ironside and Sigurd Snake-Eye, succeeded 
to Sweden and Denmark respectively. The race of the Ingling 
had, in the meantime, established an independent kingdom 
in Norway. They had their palace in Skiringsa, and thence 
extended their power over Jutland and Sleswig. We must 
pass over many years, until we come to Harold Harfagar 
(861-930), son of Halfdan the Black, who was a powerful 
king in Norway. Gorm the Old, who died a heathen, extended 
the kingdom of Denmark, died in 936, and was succeeded 
by Harold Bluetooth. In Sweden we have Eric, who made 
Curland, Esthonia, and Finland tributary, and died in 885, 
and was succeeded by Bjorn, who lived till 935, and was 
followed by his son, Eric the Victorious, the contemporary 
of Harold Bluetooth in Norway and Sven Foikbeard in Den- 
mark. The foundation of the three independent kingdoms 
of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark marks the passage of 
Scandinavia from heathendom to Christianity and the beginning, 
for it, of the Middle Ages. 

As the Germans wandered by land, so the Scandinavians 
sought new homes by sea, and this was the origin of the 
Vikings, or Wicking, as they are better called. This sea 

3°3 



304 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 835 to 

wandering was essentially an occupation of younger sons, an 

attempt to find territory by those who had inherited none. 

_. _... . The age of the Wickings, so called — it is said — 

from their habit of attacking small Burgs or Wicks, 
began with the ninth century and falls into two periods, 
the first when they returned to their own country for the 
winter after their expeditions, and the second when they 
effected permanent settlements. This happened in 835 in 
Ireland and on the Loire, in 853 in England and on the 
Seine, but earlier in Friesland. The expeditions of the Wicking 

extended to the British Isles, the coast of France, 
thefrRaids Spain, the Mediterranean, and the coasts of Italy, 

Africa, and Greece. They were known as Danes 
in England, Easterlings in Ireland, and Normans in France. 
Their ships were very small, and three or four hundred were 
required for an expedition. They had a preference for the 
mouths of rivers, such as the Scheldt, the Loire, and the 
Thames, where they could barter with the inhabitants. If 
they met with a merchant ship, they offered the sailors the 
alternative of leaving the ship in their hands, or being killed. 
The most famous of the Wicking was Ragnar Lodbrok, the 
son of King Sigurd Ring, who conquered at Bravalla. He 
was tall and beautiful, and there are many legends about him 
and his son Siward. 

The Normans attacked France in the time of Charles the 
Great, but their first serious assault was in the reign of his 
successor and lasted for thirty years, and, at last, they settled 
permanently in the country and founded the duchy of Nor- 
mandy. In 841, Wicking ships sailed up the Seine and the 
Loire, destroyed Rouen and Amboise and beleaguered Tours. 
Some ten years later, a more serious attack was made by Bjorn 
Ironside, son of Ragnar Lodbrok, assisted by his foster father, 
the terrible Hasting. They conquered Nantes, slew the bishop, 
plundered Bordeaux, and threatened Toulouse. In the following 
decade their ravages became more severe, and they had to be 
bought off. In the Iberian peninsula, they invaded Catalonia, 
plundered Lisbon, and appeared on the coast of Andalusia. In 
844, Bjorn Ironside and Hasting sailed up the Guadalquivir to 
Seville, and defeated Abderahman in a three days' battle. The 
rovers pushed on to Africa and the Balearic Islands, and in 859 
entered the Gulf of Spezzia and destroyed Luna, doing the same 
for Pisa and other Italian towns, and sailing as far as Greece. 
In 873, the Wicking began another attack on France, and 



a.d. 1042] NORSEMEN 6- DANES IN ENGLAND 305 

were with difficulty repelled by Charles the Bald, the Danish 
King Harold being their chief leader. In the time of Charles 
the Fat and Arnulf, they took possession of Friesland and 
plundered the district of the Rhine. They were also attracted 
to Constantinople, which they called Micklegard, and under 
the name of Varangians formed a body-guard for the Byzantine 
emperors, although they could not altogether restrain their 
hereditary instincts. The Byzantine historians call them " Axe- 
bearing barbarians from Thule." They also went into Russia. 
The Varangians had a high reputation for bravery and fidelity. 
About the same time, in the reign of Egbert (802-839), the 
Norman pirates began to lay waste the south coast of England. 
The chronicles of the time tell us that Almighty 
God sent out swarms of cruel heathen people in En ~ la af S 
— Danes, Norwegians, Goths, Swedes, Vandals, 
Frisians — who for more than two hundred years laid waste 
guilty England from one coast to the other, killed men and 
cattle, and did not spare women and children. But this 
devastation was not continuous, and Egbert was able to establish 
his authority over the country. England began to consolidate 
herself just as France began to break up. Egbert Egbert 
repulsed the Normans, and enjoyed a short period King of all 
of peace before his death in 839, during which he England. 
was able to summon an assembly in London, to discuss the best 
means for defending the country and also for subduing Wales. 
The reign of Egbert's son and successor, Aethel- 
wulf, which lasted twenty-two years, from 839 to 
858, was mainly occupied by fighting against the Danes and 
the Normans, who succeeded in establishing permanent settle- 
ments along the coast, chiefly in islands such as Sheppey, Thanet, 
and Portland. Aethelwulf was a lover of peace and piety, but, 
with the help of his son, Aethelstan, who was king of Kent, he 
gained a victory over the Normans at Ockley in Surrey in 851, 
when they had landed with three hundred and fifty ships at the 
mouth of the Thames, and conquered London and Canterbury. 
But the success was only temporary. Roric, from Friesland, 
crossed the Channel, and established winter quarters in Sheppey. 
Aethelwulf had been first intended by his father for a priest, 
and was a firm supporter of the clergy. He sent his youngest 
son Aelfred to Rome, where he was crowned and anointed by 
Pope Leo IV. in 853, and, two years later, undertook himself a 
pilgrimage to the holy city, where he gave costly presents to 
the church of St. Peter, of gold, precious stones, and splendid 

u 



306 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 835 to 

robes, and made himself very popular. He also founded in 
Rome a Saxon college, and made arrangements by which Eng- 
land should contribute a yearly sum to the Holy See, which was 
the origin of the payment of " Peter's Pence." Aethelwulf 
stayed a year in Rome with his son Aelfred, and, on his return, 
paid a lengthy visit to Charles the Bald, whose daughter, Judith, 
he married. After the death of his eldest son Aethelstan, 
Aethelwulf divided the kingdom with two others, Aethelbald 
and Aethelbert, who both succeeded him. Aethelwulf himself 
died in 858 ; Aethelbald, in the flower of his youth, in 860, 
when We viand, with a crowd of Danes from the 
I va 'o mS Seine, landed at Southampton, and, marching to 
Winchester, plundered that town and the church, 
and murdered the monks. Aethelbert lived till 866, when the 
fourth brother, Aethehed, succeeded to the throne of Wessex, and 
reigned till 871. Eight kings and more than twenty earls, among 
them the two sons of Ragnar Lodbrok, now effected a landing on 
the coast of East Anglia. They established a fortified camp, ac- 
quired a number of horses, conquered York, and became rulers 
of the country. In 868, they went to Mercia, made themselves 
masters of Nottingham, and forced the English to make peace. 
After this they destroyed the rich abbey of Croyland, but the 
abbot, Theodore, hid his treasures in a well, upon which they 
slew him at the high altar, and burned the monastery. Peter- 
borough and Ely suffered the same fate. In the winter of 870, 
Ingvar, son of Ragnar Lodbrok, got possession of Edmund, 
king of East Anglia, and, when he refused to abjure the 
Christian faith, tied him to a tree, and exposed him to a 
lingering death. Edmund the Martyr, ever since reverenced 
as a saint in England, died on November 20, 870. A Danish 
prince, Guthrum, succeeded to his throne. 

In the spring of the following year, new swarms of Danes 

arrived, under two kings and four earls. Aethelred and his 

brother Aelfred met them at Reading. By the 

Reading- bravery of Aelfred, they were defeated, and one 

king and five earls were killed, but their repulse 

was only temporary, and on May 23, 871, Aethelred died of his 

Aelfred, wounds. Aelfred, the youngest son of Aethelwulf, 

King of now ascended the throne of Wessex, having been 

Wessex. kept back by his brother, although he had been 

anointed at Rome eighteen years before. He is one of the 

greatest kings that England ever possessed, and still commands 

the devotion of his countrymen, who call him the Great. He 



ad. 1042] NORSEMEN 6- DANES IN ENGLAND 307 

was chiefly brought up by his mother, Osburga, and was now 
twenty-two years of age. He had great doubts of his com- 
petence to perform the duty imposed upon him, and began by 
buying off the Danes, that he might devote his attention to 
organising a defence. A respite of four years was secured, 
while the rest of England was ravaged. Then Wessex was 
attacked again. In 876, after a hard struggle, the Danes were 
partly forced, partly bribed, to withdraw. But in 878 came the 
famous winter invasion which drove the West Saxon king to 
Athelney. Danish annals tell how, in a battle fought in 
Devonshire, Ubba, the brother of Ingvar, and a thousand of 
his followers were slain, and the sacred banner was captured 
on which the three daughters of Ragnar Lodbrok had em- 
broidered the Raven, the bird of Odin, which flapped its 
wings in victory, but drooped them in defeat. But Aelfred 
could do nothing against overwhelming numbers ; the spirit 
of his countrymen was broken, and if he had then lost heart 
or an enemy's spear had slain him, English royalty would 
have perished from the earth and our island would have become 
the haunt of sea robbers. Aelfred, however, remained steadfast, 
and it is to this period that the stories about him which occup} 7 
so large a space in English histories belong. Aelfred 
And at last, in 880, he gained a great victory over makes 
the Danes at Eddington : they asked for peace, Peace with 
and their king, Guthrum, was baptized, and took Guthrum. 
the name of Aethelstan, receiving from Aelfred East Anglia as 
a fief, after which a more peaceful time ensued. Arrangements 
were made by which the eastern part of England was committed 
to the Danes, and a frontier established between them and the 
English. 

Ten quiet years followed, and were occupied by Aelfred's wise 
government of his country, but though they left a permanent 
effect and an undying memory, belong to the history of England 
more than a general history of the world • but in the beginning of 
the nineties, when the victories of Arnulf in the Netherlands 
and the efforts of the Western Franks had checked the inroads 
of the Normans on the continent, new invasions took place in 
our island. The new comers brought their wives and children 
with them, as if they intended a permanent settlement, and 
matters were made worse by the death of the Danish prince 
Aethelstan, whose successor broke the peace with Aelfred. But 
Aelfred had so organised and established the strength of his 
country that for three years, with the help of his son Edward, 



308 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.b. 835 to 

he was able to withstand their attacks, and matters were im- 
proved by the treaties which he had made with some of the 
Welsh princes, who acknowledged him as their sovereign. So 
Aelfred spent the remaining years of his life in comparative 
peace. At last, after a reign of thirty years, at the age of fifty- 
three, he died, on October 28, 901 — one of the best and wisest 
kings who ever sat npon a throne. 

Edward, Aelfred's eldest son, had, as crown prince, defeated 
the army of the Dane Haeston at Farnham, so that the great 
council of the Witenagemot had no hesitation in 
making him king of the West Saxons ; but 
Aethelwold, Aelfred's nephew, thought that he had a stronger 
claim. He refused his allegiance to Edward, and established 
himself in Badbury, and was prepared to risk his life on the issue. 
When Edward attacked him, he took refuge with the Danes, and 
a civil war broke out. But in 909 the Danes were defeated, 
and the old alliance was renewed. Edward was a worthy son 
of his father ; he extended his kingdom, strengthened it by the 
creation of towns and fortresses, and, having rivalled the glories 
of Egbert and Aelfred, died in 924, after a reign of twenty- 
four years. His daughter, Edgiva, married Charles the Simple, 
and, fearing for her safety, fled to England with her son, then 
three years old, who was afterwards known as Louis " from- 
beyond-the-Sea." A third heroic king, Aethelstan, 
ascended the throne of England in 924, and 
reigned till 941. It is said that he was the son of a beautiful 
peasant girl, whom his father found in a solitary hut during 
the chase and made his queen. We possess more legends with 
regard to his reign than trustworthy history. He held a high 
place among the sovereigns of Europe. The Emperor Otto I. 
married his daughter Edith, and a prince of Aquitaine, his sister. 
By his influence, Louis d'Outremer became king of the Franks, 
and in European difficulties recourse was had to his arbitration 
Battle of an d advice. But the great event of his reign was 
Brunan- the battle of Brunanburgh in Northumberland, in 

burgh. which the discipline and valour of the Saxons 

showed their superiority over the wild tribes of the North. 
The battle lasted a whole day, and was the last decisive 
victory of Germans over Celts, for in Aethelstan's army fought 
Normans, Wicking, and the Scandinavian brothers Thoralf 
and Eigil. Five Celtic kings and seven earls were killed, 
and the battle is celebrated in the poetry of both Saxons and 
Scandinavians, 



a.d. 1042] NORSEMEN &> DANES IN ENGLAND 309 

Aethelstan died three years after the battle of Brunanburgh, 
on October 27, 940, loved and mourned by people and clergy 
for his generosity, his chivalry, his justice, and his Ki Edmund- 
good government. As he had no children, he 
was succeeded by his brother Edmund (941-946). The Danes 
and the Scotch took advantage of the change to renew then- 
attacks, and Anlaf was summoned from Ireland and recognised 
as Lord of Northumberland. The Normans living in Mercia 
and East Anglia joined him, and Archbishop Wulfstan of York 
supported him. For three years England was desolated by 
wars which continued till Edmund got possession of the five 
towns of Derby, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford, and Leicester, 
Peace was made by the mediation of the archbishop of Canter- 
bury, and Anlaf was recognised as king of York on doing 
homage to Edmund and being baptized, but rebelled within a 
year and was slain. Edmund himself was killed at a royal feast 
on May 26, 946, and, as his sons were too young to succeed, the 
crown was given to his brother Edred, who reigned for nine 
years (946-955), occupied mainly with wars against Eric, the 
son of Harold Bluetooth, king of the Danes. At Edred 

last Eric was killed by treachery, with his two 
sons, but a large number of Danes settled in England, which 
has left their stamp on the country till the present day. Arch- 
bishop Wulfstan, who had assisted Eric, was moved from York 
to the see of Rochester in the south, and Edred was able to 
restore the monastery of Croyland. When he died without 
heirs, on November 26, 955, Edwy, the elder son of Edmund, a 
young man of remarkable beauty, was chosen king, and reigned 
from 955 to 959. Unfortunately, he was both weak and 
immoral. 

The reign of Edwy was distinguished by the life of Dunstan, 
abbot of Glastonbury, belonging to the Benedictine Order, which 
had shortly before been reformed by the influence 
of the abbey of Cluny. Dunstan and Odo, arch- f Dunstan. 
bishop of Canterbury, set themselves against the 
king, in consequence of which Dunstan was exiled and fled to 
Flanders. But Edwy fared no better ; a large portion of 
England soon revolted, and summoned his brother Edgar to 
the throne. In 957, Dunstan was recalled, made bishop of 
Worcester and London, and taken by Edgar as his 
chief adviser. Edwy had to separate from his 
wife, Aethelgiva, on the ground of consanguinity, but died 
himself on October 1, 959, after a short and miserable reign. 



3io A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 835 to 

Edgar was now recognised as king in the south, and governed the 
kingdom, under the influence of Dunstan. He reigned happily 
for seventeen years, from 959 to 975, a period always celebrated 
as an age of gold. On the death of Odo, Dunstan became 
archbishop of Canterbury, and set himself to reform the church 
of which he was the head. Edgar was of small stature, but 
true and courageous. He repressed insubordination in Cumber- 
land and Wales. It is said that eight vassal kings rowed his 
barge on the Dee, himself seated at the rudder. At the age of 
thirty he was solemnly crowned by Dunstan at Bath, establishing 
a close union between church and state. After his death, his 
son Edward, a boy of thirteen, was raised to the 

Martvr ^ & throne by the influence of Dunstan, but he reigned 
only a short time. On March 18, 978, as he was 
riding in the chase, he stopped before the palace of his step- 
mother, Aelfrida, to receive a drink which was offered him, was 
stabbed treacherously in the back, and was dignified, without 
much reason, with the name of Martyr. 

Aelfrida was able to raise her young son Aethelred to 
the throne, which he held till 1016, but his nickname, the 

Aethelred " Unready," which shows his weakness in council, 

"theUn- shows also that he was not worthy of much 

ready." honour. For the first ten years he had the 

assistance of Dunstan, and it was not until the Archbishop's 
death, in 988, that misfortunes burst over the kingdom. The 
Wicking renewed their attacks. The most dreaded enemies 
of the English were Sven Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggveson. In 
992 Aethelred attempted to purchase peace by the payment 
of a tribute of <£ 10,000, which was known as the Danegelt, 
and lasted, as a heavy tax upon the people, for 

Daneselt many years, ceasing finally only under Henry II. 
In the year 999, Aethelred was obliged to 
purchase peace from the Danes at the price of £24,000, 
and shortly afterwards married Emma, the daughter of 
llichard, duke of Normandy, who had been a strong sup- 
porter of the Cluniac reform. Emma, who was called the 
jewel and flower of Normandy, took the Saxon name of 
Aelgiva, and much was expected from the assistance of her 
brave and prudent brother, llichard II. But 

, h as ^ cr ® ° Aethelred, reduced to despair, allowed himself to 

be guilty of a terrible crime. On November 13, 

1002, the night of Saint Brice, an attempt was made to murder 

the whole of the Danes in England, with their children and 



a.d. 1042] NORSEMEN 6- DANES IN ENGLAND 311 

their English wives, so that Saint Brice stands in English 
history as a pendant to the horrors of St. Bartholomew in 
the history of France. Vengeance was not long in coming. 
Among the victims had been Gunhild, the wife of Jarl Pallig and 
the sister of Sven Forkbeard, who, being now king of Norway, 
determined to avenge his sister's death. In 1003, he landed 
in Devonshire, took possession of Exeter, and laid waste 
Wiltshire and Hampshire. The Danegeld rose to £48,000 ; 
the whole country, from Kent to Northumberland, was a scene 
of murder and violence. A new tax was levied under the 
name of ship-money, to build a fleet for the protection of the 
coast. The archbishop of Canterbury was carried off on a 
Danish ship, and, when he refused to pay the ransom demanded, 
was foully murdered. In 1013, Sven Forkbeard, now an old 
man, having committed the government of Denmark to his 
son Harold, sailed again to England, accompanied by his 
son Cnut, determined to destroy the Saxon kingdom for 
ever. He established his camp at Gainsborough. After many 
bloody fights, in which he earned the name of " England's 
Devil," he entered London, and Aethelred, having collected 
his treasure in Winchester, fled with his wife and children 
to the court of his brother-in-law, Richard, in Normandy. 
But, hearing that Sven had died on February 2, 1014, he 
returned, at the request of nobles, clergy, and people. 

Aethelred's triumph was of short duration. In 1015, Cnut 
(generally known as Canute) appeared with a fleet of Wicking 
ships on the coast of England, to take possession Canute and 
of his father's kingdom. Aethelred hid himself Edmund 
in London, and when he died in the following Ironside, 
year the greater part of England fell into Canute's hands. 
But he left behind him a chivalrous son, Edmund, who, 
for his bravery, received the name of Ironside. The Danes 
found it impossible to capture London, and Edmund would 
have saved England, as Aelfred had saved her before, had he 
not been overthrown by treachery. The decisive battle was 
fought at Assandun (Ashdown) in 1016, and Edmund would 
have won had not the ealderman Edric fled with his men 
from the field and given the battle to the Danes. The two 
leaders met, and determined to divide the country between 
them, Canute taking the north and Edmund the south, but, 
on November 30, 1016, Edmund was treacherously slain, 
probably by the machinations of Edric, and Canute was 
recognised as king by the Witenagemot and the people. 



3r2 A GENERAL HISTORY t835-lo42 

Edmund's brothers and sons were excluded from the suc- 
cession, and the best of them, Edwy, was put to death. Two 
of them found a refuge with St. Stephen, king of Hungary. 
Edmund's brother-in-law, Uhtred of Northumbrian was slain, 
and his earldom was given to the Northman Eric. The 
traitor Edric was soon executed, and East Anglia was given 
to Thurkil. 

Canute began his reign well, and endeavoured to establish 
his throne on a secure basis. He married Emma, Aethelred's 

widow, exiled the irreconcilables, and made peace 
Ca^e with the rest. He punished London by exacting 

a fine of =£10,500, besides an enormous Dane- 
geld. His objects were to establish a united government 
in England, and to convert Denmark and Norway to Chris- 
tianity. He traversed England from end to end, and during 
his seventeen years of reign sent out from his capital, 
Winchester, laws which are a model of wisdom and justice. 
He protected himself with a body-guard of house carles. He 
supported the church, and paid special honours to Dunstan 
and Edmund, now raised to the rank of saints. In 1026, 
he made a pilgrimage to Rome. An evidence of the position 
which he held in Europe was the marriage of his daughter 
Gunhilde to the son and heir of the Emperor Conrad. She 
died early, "like a morning-star fading away in the dawn." 
Canute's government of England was admirable. He cultivated 
the wasted fields ; he built castles and bridges, and made roads ; 
he erected churches and chapels. Some of the Danes were 
discontented at the favour shown to the English, but he put 
them down with a strong hand, forced his old friend Thurkil 
to leave the country, and deposed Eric from the earldom 
of Northumbria. The manner in which, in 1028, he obtained 
the crown of Norway by the overthrow of the wise and pious 
King Olaf is not much to his credit. He died on November 
11, 1035, and was buried at Winchester. He was a mighty 
ruler, but was not free from unregulated ambition and bursts 
of unrestrained passion. Well-known stories about him tell of 
his sitting on the sea-shore and bidding the waves not to 
approach, and rebuking his courtiers for their flattery when 
the sea came up and wetted his feet ; and of his rowing on 
the flooded fens by Ely, and asking in elegant and humorous 
verse that he might draw near and hear the hymns in the 
cathedral. 

After the death of Canute, there were three claimants for the 



1043-1087] THE NORMAN CONQUEST 313 

English throne — Harold, his eldest son; Hardicanute, his 
son by Emma, who was not yet of age; and Edward, the 
son of Emma and Aethelred. The legitimacy of Harold and 
Harold was doubtful ; Hardicanute was in Den- Hardi- 
mark, weak in health and a hard drinker ; and canute. 
Edward, who was staying in Rouen, was foiled in his attempt to 
land at Southampton with a band of Normans, while his brother 
Aelfred was seized by Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and blinded. 
The result was that Harold was elected, and Emma had to take 
refuge at Bruges. Harold, however, died on March 17, 1040, 
and Hardicanute was elected king. But he died suddenly at 
a marriage feast on June 8, 1042, and the ground was left 
open for Aethelred's son, Edward, known as the Confessor, who 
reigned from 1042 to 1066. 

Edward was a pious and peace-loving monarch, who had been 
rendered unfit to reign in these stormy times by his monastic 
training and his retiring character, so that he fell 
into the hands of Godwin, the father of numerous confessor 6 
sons, whom he placed in positions of authority and 
command. Edward married the gifted, charming, and virtuous 
daughter of Godwin ; but the strictness of his religious observ- 
ances unfitted him for the pleasures of family life. Denmark 
and Norway were lost, the one falling to Sven Estrithson, a 
nephew of Canute, the other to a descendant of St. Olaf. 
Edward was crowned at the cathedral of Winchester at Easter, 
1043. His mother Emma was compelled to surrender the 
royal treasures which she had appropriated, and to return to 
Bruges. 

2. THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND, A.D. 1043-1087. 

The people of England greeted Edward with enthusiasm, 
expecting to find in him a thoroughly English king, but they 
were disappointed. Long residence in Normandy 
had convinced him of the superiority of French J^ 1S an 
culture, and indisposed him to submit to the 
boorishness of the Saxons. He favoured Normans in every 
way, submitted himself to the see of Rome, for which the 
Saxons had no great respect, forced Godwin to leave the king- 
dom, and shut up his wife Edgitha in a convent. Godwin 
could not put up with this treatment. He took refuge in 
Flanders, while his son Harold went to Ireland and joined 
Griffith, king of North Wales, in harrying the west of England. 



314 A GENERAL HISTORY [1043-1087 

The general feeling of the English was in favour of Harold 
and against the intruding Normans • Godwin sailed up the 
Exile and Thames ; Robert of Jumieges, the Norman arch- 
Return of bishop of Canterbury, was obliged to flee to 
Godwin. Normandy. Godwin was supported by the Witena- 

gemot, and returned to his possessions. When the Normans 
were got rid of, the Saxons looked forward to the enjoyment 
of a national reign, but Archbishop Robert stirred up Duke 
William of Normandy, the illegitimate son of Robert the Devil, 
to aim at succeeding the childless Edward. Godwin died in 
1053; Harold succeeded him in Wessex ; Tostig, his brother, 
became earl of Northumberland in succession to Siward, who 
had conquered Macbeth, the murderer of King Duncan, and is 
famous for meeting death in full armour, with his battle axe in 
his hand. Edward survived Godwin twelve years, a just, pious 
and righteous king, whose peaceful virtues were unfitted to 
obtain success in those times of troubled war. Harold, on the 
other hand, possessed all the active virtues in the fullest 
measure, and had won a reputation by his fighting in Wales. 
The last act of Edward was the completion and dedication of 
Westminster Abbey at Christmas, 1065. He died on January 
5, 1066, and was buried in his own cathedral. 
Harold 11 ° Edgar Aetheling, the grandson of Edmund Iron- 
side, and the only surviving male member of the 
royal house, was a mere boy, and Harold was immediately 
chosen king. 

Within a few months the new ruler was obliged to turn his 

arms against his brother Tostig, who had been driven out of 

Battle of Northumberland by the exasperation of the nobles 

Stamford at his evil government, but had recovered his 

Bridge. earldom, by the help of the count of Flanders 

and of Harold Hardrada, king of Norway. It was necessary 

for Harold to put him down, and this was done at the battle of 

Stamford Bridge, where the struggle continued for a whole day, 

and did not come to an end until the king of Norway had been 

slain by an arrow and Tostig had received his death-blow. No 

sooner had Harold gained this victory than he hastened to meet 

more serious danger. 

William of Normandy, born in 1027, was full of the spirit of 
a Wicking. His father, Robert the Devil, who was charged 
with having killed his brother, Richard III., died on July 
23, 1035, at Nicaea, in Bithyuia, on his way to Jerusalem, 
William being only eight years of age. He secured his position 



1016-1187] THE NORMANS IN ITALY 315 

by marrying Matilda, daughter of Count Baldwin of Flanders, 
and, on the death of Edward, determined to obtain the throne 
of England, to which he had no manner of claim 
whatever. The battle of Hastings was fought on |astin°s 
October 29, 1066, perhaps the most notable date 
in English history. Harold fell, pierced by an arrow in the 
eye, and the Saxons were defeated. During his reign, which 
lasted till September 1087, "William entirely transformed 
England, but the events of it are so fully related in histories 
of England that it is not necessary to recount them here. 
We must turn to the exploits of the Normans in southern 
Italy and Sicily. 



3. THE NORMANS IN ITALY, A.D. 1016-1187. 

Southern Italy, a scene of party strife, embittered by 
treachery, murder, and crime of every kind, was disputed be- 
tween Lombards, Greeks, and Arabs, and offered state of 
a promising field for any adventurer who could Southern 
stop the ravages of pirates and establish some Italy, 
form of good government. In 1011, two Apulian nobles of 
Lombard origin, called Melus and Dattus, after an unsuccessful 
attempt to rescue Bari from the Greeks, took refuge with 
the duke of Capua. Pope Benedict VIII., who wished to 
put an end to the Greek rule in Italy, gave Dattus a strong 
fortress on the Garigliano, while Melus sought the assistance 
of the Normans. In 1016, forty Norman knights, on landing 
at Salerno on their return from Jerusalem, found f^e 
the city beleaguered by the Saracens, in conse- Normans 
quence of the refusal of their customary tribute. at Salerno. 
Borrowing arms and horses from the prince of Salerno, they 
soon put the unbelievers to flight, and, when they returned to 
their country, they received an embassy from Salerno, asking 
them to undertake a campaign against the Moslems in southern 
Italy. The ambassadors brought with them almonds, oranges, 
sugared walnuts, silken robes, arms and trappings covered 
with gold — evidences of the richness of the country — and 
the invitation was accepted. Two hundred and fifty Norman 
knights crossed the Alps, and met with a warm welcome. They 
came to Rome, and the pope, seeing their size and prowess, 
determined to employ them against the Byzantine Greeks, 
and introduced them to Melus, who was established in Capua. 

In May 1017, they defeated the Greeks at Fortore and 



3i6 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.i>. loie to 

acquired all the country as far as Trani. Afterwards they 

suffered reverses, being defeated by the Greeks at Cannae in 

a e a 1019 ; but in 1027, one of their leaders, Ranulf, 

founded was awe t° establish an independent power in 

The Family Aversa. New swarms of Normans came in, con- 
of Haute- spicuous among them being the ten valiant sons 
of Tancred of Hauteville, who — leaving two 
brothers to look after their aged father and continue the family 
in France — joined one after another in the Italian enterprise. 
William "the Iron Arm," Drogo, Humfrey, Roger, a hand- 
some man of mighty stature, and Robert Guiscard a clever 
intriguer, were the most famous, and the Greeks determined to 
make use of them for driving the Saracens out of Sicily. In 
1038, accordingly, they went there in the service of the 
Catapan. The Saracens, led by eunuchs, were defeated ; 
Messina was taken ; the emir of Syracuse fell under the lance 
of Iron Arm ; and, in a short time, the whole of the island 
acknowledged the rule of the Byzantine emperor. But, dis- 
gusted by the scurvy treatment which they received from their 
employers, the Normans returned to Aversa, determined to repay 
themselves by new conquests. The Catapan, who now opposed 
them, was defeated at the well-known Cannae, and the Normans 
gained possession of Melfi, which became a point of departure 
for future enterprises. Between 1040 and 1043, they made 
themselves masters of Taranto, Otranto, Brindisi, and Bari ; and 
William, the Iron Arm, took the title of Count of Apulia. Three 
years later he died, and was succeeded by his brother Drogo. 

However, Pope Leo IX. set himself against them, and 
Argyros, the son of Melus, had Drogo murdered in a church. 
His place was taken by his brother Humphrey. The Emperor 
Henry III. crossed the Alps with a small army, and the 
Normans offered to become vassals of the pope, but Leo 
insisted on their leaving Italy. They would rather die at the 
hands of the enemy than return to Normandy disgraced. They 
succeeded in winning the battle of Civitella in 1053, in which 
the pope was taken prisoner. Then Leo determined to invest 
them with the feudal possession of all the lands which they 
had wrested from the Greeks and Saracens, and — having thus 
made them his vassals — he returned to Monte Casino, where he 
died in the following year. 

In 1056 Humphrey died, and, as the sons whom he left 
behind him were of tender age, Robert Guiscard, their uncle, 
was made count of Apulia. He possessed in the fullest 



a.d. 1187] THE NORMANS IN ITALY 317 

measure the qualities, both good and bad, which had raised 
the Normans to power in Italy. He made friends with the 
church, and showed such respect to Pope Nicholas 
II., in the synod of Melfi, that he persuaded §°J^. d 
him to withdraw the ban which had been 
laid upon him, to renew the feudal possession of his lands, 
and to make him duke instead of count of Apulia. The 
Normans did him homage as " Robert, duke by the grace 
of God and St. Peter." Well did he deserve the name of 
Robert Wiseacre. He spent four years in conquering his 
dukedom, in reducing the Lombard princes, in driving the 
Greeks out of Apulia and Calabria, in getting possession of 
Taranto, Otranto, Troja, and other places, and he was not 
master of Bari, the last Byzantine possession, till 1071. In 
the meantime his brother Roger, the young and beautiful, 
had been conquering Sicily for himself from the 
Arabs, the pope assisting him with the present s f c ^ Ues ° 
of a consecrated banner. The enterprise, which 
began in 1062, achieved its first great success two years later 
in the conquest of Palermo ; but Syracuse did not fall till 
1085, Girgenti till 1087, or Enna, in the interior of the 
island, till 1090. Not content with his conquests in Italy, 
Robert Wiseacre determined to cross the Ionian Sea and to 
attack the Byzantine emperor in his own country. Alexius 
Comnenus, with his Norman Varangians, was defeated in the 
battle of Durazzo in June 1081, and the city 
of Durazzo was captured, after which Robert ^ attle ot 
penetrated into the heart of Epirus and Thessaly, 
approached Salonica, and made the emperor tremble in Con- 
stantinople. He was, however, recalled by Pope Gregory VII., 
leaving his son Boemund to continue his work in Thessaly. 
After many more adventures and exploits, which cannot be 
recounted here, he died in the island of Kephallenia in July 
1085, at the age of seventy, and is buried at Venusia, the birth- 
place of the poet Horace. 

The sons of Robert, Boemund and Roger, after some disputes, 
divided their father's dominions between them, Roger taking 
Apulia and the title of duke, Boemund Taranto 
with a portion of Calabria. Boemund took part 5 . of t j ie 
in the first crusade, became prince of Antioch, 
but died at Taranto in 1111. The family of Guiscard came 
to an end with William, son of Roger, but in the island 
Roger II., son of Guiscard's brother Roger, became king of 



318 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.b. loie-iis? 

Sicily and Apulia in 1127, and, on Christmas Day, 1130, 
the anti-pope, Anacletus II., allowed him to be crowned in 
Palermo as king of Naples and Sicily, on the 
of°licilv inS condition that he became a vassal of the Holy 
See, and recognised the right of the pontiff to 
Benevento. On the other hand, Pope Innocent II. placed the 
Normans under the ban of the church, and called the German 
Emperor Lothar into the field against them, but in 1139 
Innocent changed his mind and recognised Roger as king 
of Sicily and duke of Apulia. Not satisfied with this, Robert 
occupied Malta, acquired Tunis and Tripoli, besieged Corfu, 
robbed Athens, Thebes, and Corinth of their costly treasures, 
and even attacked the imperial palace at Constantinople, until 
he was driven back by the fleet of the Emperor Manuel, who 
sent his admiral, Palaeologus, to recover southern Italy for 
his crown, an enterprise which signally failed. When Roger 
died in 1154, he left the kingdom of the Two Sicilies in a 
position of prosperity, founded on a peaceful, just, and orderly 
government which was not equalled by any other state in 
Italy. Palermo and Amalfi vied with Venice and Pisa in 
commercial prosperity. Medicine and science were studied 
at Palermo, and law at Amalfi and Naples, with a success 
which is not forgotten in our own day. 

William, the son and successor of Roger II., spent the eleven 

years of his reign in the idle sensuality of an Eastern sultan, 

End of the which earned him the name of the " Wicked," 

Norman while George Majo, son of a merchant of Bari, 

Line in acted as his grand vizier. His court became 

Sicily. orientalised, with its harem and its eunuchs. 

His son, William II., who reigned from 1166 to 1189, revived 

the power of the crown by his youth, beauty, and innocence. 

Party strife was suppressed, unjust laws were repealed, and 

Sicily enjoyed with him a short period of peace and prosperity. 

The people of Sicily and Apulia long regarded the reign of 

William III. as a golden age. He left no children, and his 

dominions passed to the German family of the Hohenstauffens, 

for, in 1186, Constance, daughter of Roger II., heiress of the 

Norman possessions in Italy, married in Milan, with great 

festivities, the son of Frederick Barbarossa, afterwards Henry 

VI., who was then twenty-one years old, ten years younger 

than his bride, 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE EMPIRE RESTORED— HENRY THE FOWLER, 
A.D, 919-93G: OTTO I., A.D. 936-973. 

The Emperor Conrad I. (911-918) was a prince with all the 
knightly virtues, dignified and magnificent, generous, affectionate, 
and of cheerful manner, but the task which was set 
before him was more than he could accomplish : p 0nr f; " ie 
indeed, his domains did not afford a sufficiently 
large foundation on which to rest the royal authority. Even 
Henry of Saxony, the son of the Otto who retired in his favour, 
would not acknowledge his authority, and resolved to resist 
him by force. The Danes, Slavs, and Magyars made in- 
cursions into his realm from different sides, the worst of all 
being the Magyars, who penetrated as far as the Saale and the 
Weser. Conrad died on December 27, 918, and, when he saw 
his end approaching, he persuaded his brother Eberhard to 
renounce the succession and to submit to Henry of Saxony, the 
head of the rival house. He said to his brother : " We have 
many who are true to us. and a great people who follow us into 
war : we have castles and arms ; in our hands are crowns and 
sceptres. But we have not the faculty of governing, and we 
have no luck. Luck and the power of governing belong to 
Henry : the future of the empire is with the Saxons. Take, 
then, the royal emblems, with the king's mantle, the sword, and 
the crown of our ancient monarchs ; go to Henry, and make thy 
peace with him as a friend." Eberhard did as he was advised, 
and the spot is still shown in Quedlinburg where the momentous 
interview took place. 

The kings and emperors of the Saxon house, also known as 
the Liudolfings, from Liudolf their founder, reigned in Ger- 
many for just on a hundred years, from 919 to Th g axon 
1024. They included two Henrys and three Ottos. Emperors — 
Henry I., called the Fowler, because he was fond Henry the 
of going after birds, was acknowledged as king by Fowler, 
the magnates of the empire at Fritzlar in Hesse in 919. He 

319 



320 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 9] 9 to 

was at first received only by the Saxons and the Franks, but in 
the following year he was recognised by the dukes of Bavaria 
and Swabia as their feudal superior. He refused to be crowned, 
and called himself " King by the Grace of God." Lorraine was 
at first left to Charles the Simple, but in 925 Henry got possession 
of it, first defeating and capturing its duke, Giselbert, and 
then making him his son-in-law and friend. Henry used his 
royal power with great wisdom and moderation. His desire 
was to be rather the head of a confederation than the despotic 
ruler of a motley empire. He said : " As the circle of the crown 
unites in itself the bright jewels, and is thus the most magnifi- 
cent emblem of earthly power, so the royal authority should 
include in itself all German lands without destroying their 
individual life. Let each part preserve its own tradition, and 
order itself after its own laws and customs. Let a duke guide 
and lead in war, a duke whom counts and nobles are bound to 
follow in war and obey ; let him hold parliaments to appease 
strife and quarrels in the country ; let the poor and the oppressed 
find defence and support with him ; let him protect the churches, 
uphold the land's peace, and defend the frontier against the 
invading foe ; as the dukes stand over the several races in the 
empire, so let the king stand high over all people and all lands 
of the empire, the supreme judge and general of the whole 
people, the last resource of the afflicted and the oppressed, the 
final protector of the church." 

In the year 924, when Henry had been five yea,rs on the 
throne, the Hungarians made an invasion, which extended as 
■phg far as Saxony. Wherever they came the country 

Hungarian was laid waste ; the monasteries and the churches, 
Invasions. the dwellings of the poor peasants, were destroyed 
by fire— old and young, men and women, were slaughtered. The 
march of the enemy could be traced by the fire and smoke which 
accompanied it; men hid themselves in the depths of the woods 
and in the tops of mountains and in the rocks. Henry, unable 
to make head against them with his scanty cavalry, took refuge 
in his castle of Goslar and entered into negotiations with them. 
On the payment of a yearly tribute, they agreed to leave the 
country, and for nine years Henry had leisure to strengthen 
his defences. In those days, the Saxons lived either in large 
farms or in open villages, according to the custom of their fore- 
fathers ; the only towns were those the Romans had built on 
the Rhine and the Danube, and these were mostly in ruins. 
The centres of population in Saxony were the palaces of the 



a.d. 973] THE EMPIRE RESTORED 321 

king, the castles of the nobles, and the " liberties " attached to 
the dwellings of bishops, priests, and monks. Henry did his best 
to create towns round all possible centres, and to 
build fortresses on the frontiers. Quedlinburg, enrys 

Goslar, and Mersebnrg owe their origin to his 
wisdom, the last being a barrier against the Slavs. He ordered 
that every ninth man should move from the country into the 
towns ; that the third part of all produce should be taken there ; 
and that all trials, assemblies of the people, and commercial 
transactions should go on inside the walls. Meissen on the Elbe 
was fortified to spread German culture among the Slavic Serbs 
in the Lausitz, so that Henry well deserved the name of the town- 
builder. He also taught the Saxons to fight more on horseback. 

In 928, when four years had been spent in these reforms, he 
subdued the Havellers, a Slavonic race on the Havel and the 
Spree, and made their capital Lebus and their 
whole land tributary. With the help of the ^Wend* 
Bavarians, he subjected the Bohemians to his 
authority. It is said that in the battle of Lenzen on the 
Elbe, fought in 929, he killed 20,000 Wends, and for ever broke 
their power, which certainly seems an exaggeration. It. should 
be mentioned that Wend is not the appellation of a nation or 
of a race, but is a name given by Teutons to Slavs, wherever 
they come into contact, just as Welsh is a name given by 
Teutons to Kelts. These Wends were generally inoffensive, 
hard-working people, who had the misfortune to be heathens, 
and it is distressing to read how they were treated by German 
conquerors like Charles the Great and Henry. The ill-feeling- 
generated in those days by these cruelties has never died out, 
and explains the antagonism between the Slavs and the Teutons 
at the present time. 

The time had now come for taking vengeance on the 
Hungarians ; the tribute was refused, and when they attempted 
to enforce it by arms they were entirely defeated Defeat of 
on March 15, 934, at Riade, in the Golden Meadow, the Hun- 
now represented by Merseburg. Henry also de- garians. 
feated Gorm, king of Denmark, and re-established the mark of 
Schleswig, which had first been formed by Charles the Great. 
He was, indeed, the great creator of marks or frontier districts 
— the Altmai-k or the Nordmark, the mark of Meissen, and 
between the two the Ostmark, afterwards known as the Lausitz, 
which we have already mentioned. Having accomplished all 
these labours before he was sixty years old, he was struck by 

X 



322 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 919 to 

paralysis while he was hunting at Botfeld in the Harz, and 
never thoroughly recovered. He summoned the grandees of 
the kingdom to Erfurt in 936, and there presented to them 
his son Otto as his heir. He then returned to Memleben on 
the Unstrut, in the Golden Meadow, where he had another 
stroke. He knew that his end was near, and said to his wife : 
" My dear faithful wife, I thank God that I am dying before you. 
You have often softened my wrath, given me good advice, and 
induced me to pardon offenders. I thank you, and commend 
you and our children to Almighty God." She went into the 
church to pray, and while she was on her knees heard a cry, 
which told her that the king was dead. Thus, on July 2, 
936, passed away the greatest ruler of his time, inferior to none 
in body or mind, But he left behind him a son greater even 
than himself. He was buried in the abbey church of Quedlin- 
burg, which he had founded. 

Henry left three sons besides Otto — Thankmar, son of Hathe- 
burg, Henry, later duke of Bavaria, and Bruno, later arch- 
Coronation bishop of Cologne. But Otto seemed the most 
of Otto the promising, and his mother, Mathilde, worked for 
Great. him, so that, when he was recommended by his 

father for the throne, the Franks and Saxons had no doubt about 
choosing him, which was done in a very formal manner. He 
was crowned in the cathedral of Aachen by the archbishop of 
Mainz, the metropolitan, assisted by the archbishops of Trier 
and Cologne, these three becoming eventually the three eccle- 
siastical electors of the emperor. We find also the lay electors 
performing for the first time their special functions at the cere- 
mony. Duke Giselbert of Lorraine, in whose domain Aachen 
was situated, acted as chamberlain, and had the general direction 
of the festival ; Eberhard, duke of Franconia, as seneschal, 
arranged the table ; Hermann, duke of Swabia, performed the 
office of butler ; and Arnulf, duke of Bavaria, as marshal, looked 
after the carriages and superintended the arrangements of the 
stables. The coronation took place on August 8, 938. Otto 
was a worthy successor to his father, in whose footsteps he trod. 
He reduced the proud nobles to obedience, and established the 
unity of the empire. He conquered his enemies to the east and 
the north, and preached Christianity to them. He subdued the 
Hungarians, and brought their invasions to an end. He 
restored the splendour and prestige of the Holy Roman Empire, 
and deserved the name which English writers have generally 
accorded to him of Otto the Great. 



ad. 973] THE EMPIRE RESTORED 323 

At the same time, his elevation to the imperial throne at the 
age of twenty-one did not pass without jealousy and opposition. 
Eberhard, the duke of the Franks, raised the 
standard of revolt, assisted by Thankmar, and civil Qu e ii e H° nS 
war broke out in Hesse and Westphalia. But the 
Eresburg was stormed, and Thankmar was slain at the foot of 
the altar, where he had taken refuge. Eberhard was punished 
by a short banishment. In the year before this (937), huge 
hordes of Hungarians had invaded Saxony by way of Franconia. 
They were beaten back by Otto, and when he followed them 
they retreated towards the west and laid waste the northern 
half of France as far as the Loire. Otto's brother Henry now 
rose in arms against him, and received large support. He allied 
himself with the ungrateful Eberhard, who was still thirsting 
for revenge, and with the ambitious Giselbert of Lorraine, 
Otto's own brother-in-law, who was anxious to turn his duchy 
into an independent kingdom. Louis IV., king of France, 
called also Louis-from-beyond-the-Sea, or Louis d'Outremer, 
from having been educated in England, also took part in 
the enterprise. Twice did Henry bring his brother into great 
straits, but we are told by Nithard, his historian, that the pious 
emperor took refuge in prayer, and sought assistance from One 
by whom it was not refused. At the battle of Biethen on the 
Rhine, not far from Xanten, Otto gained a victory over his 
opponents ; Eberhard and Giselbert fled, and were surprised by 
Count Uclo and Count Conrad Shortpole, after they had been 
again defeated in the neighbourhood of Andernach. Eberhard 
died of his wounds, and Giselbert was drowned in an attempt 
to swim across the Rhine, and his body was never recovered. 

Henry was now compelled to submit to his victorious brother, 
who magnanimously pardoned him. But soon afterwards, with 
great ingratitude, he entered into a conspiracy with Frederick, 
archbishop of Mainz, and some other discontented nobles. They 
formed a plot for murdering Otto during the Easter festival at 
Quedlinburg. The conspiracy was discovered in 941, and the 
ringleaders were put to death. The archbishop was imprisoned 
at Fulda, while Henry fled, and disappeared for a time from the 
sight of men. In this seclusion he seems to have realised his 
wickedness, and sought pardon of his brother, who promised 
to do him no injury. He was first brought to Otto's palace at 
Ingelheim, and placed under arrest. Escaping from this con- 
finement, he went to the cathedral at Frankfort, where Otto 
was keeping his Christmas festival, and, clad in a hair-cloth 



324 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 919 to 

dress, with his feet bare, threw himself at his brother's knees 
and embraced him. From this time forth, the concord of the 
brothers was never again disturbed. 

But Otto was convinced that it was necessary to concentrate 
and strengthen the royal power more than his father had done. 
He therefore visited the different parts of his 



Otto's Gov- 

master over the dukes. He established an order of 



dominions, with a view to showing that he was 



counts palatine to keep the dukes and grafen in check. He also 
took care to commit the duchies to persons whom he could trust. 
He invested Count Conrad the Red with the duchy of Lon-aine 
and gave him his daughter Liutgard to wife. At the same time, 
he did not hesitate to commit the important duchy of Bavaria 
to his brother Henry, who had behaved so badly to him. The 
duchy of Swabia was given to his darling son, Liudolf, who 
married the daughter of the last duke, while Hermann the 
Billing, who had fought by Otto's side in his battle against the 
Slavs, was created duke of Saxony. We are also told that 
when he iuvested anyone with a duchy or with a county, or 
with a bishopric or imperial abbey, Otto gave the first a lance 
with a banner attached to it, and the second a ring and a staff. 
He then made them place their hands in his, and take an oath 
of homage, binding themselves to be true and faithful to him for 
all time, to follow him whenever he called them, and never to 
leave him in time of need. Otto was a born ruler, and inspired 
respect by his majestic appearance and commanding look. He 
carried out the principle of being magnanimous to the weak 
and pitiless to the strong. In order to be better able to keep 
his nobles in obedience, he made a close alliance with the 
church, bestowing bishoprics and abbeys on relations, so as to 
keep the empire together. He also reformed the system of 
imperial finance, not establishing a uniform tax, but taking care 
that the " Ehrengeschenk," or Gift of Heaven, which had been 
contributed according to ancient custom, by both ecclesiastical 
and lay nobles, should receive a more formal and obligatory 
character. The taxes paid for the expenses of the court, the 
burdens of purveyance, the duty of arming and maintaining the 
army, often became a very heavy burden. 

Otto was a great legislator. He treated with respect the 
capitularies of the Carlings, but gave consideration to the 
altered circumstances of his time. While his position as king 
w T as founded on Carolingian law, he punished treason and the 
breach of the royal peace according to Frankish law, At the 



a.d. 973] THE EMPIRE RESTORED 325 

same time, he paid great attention to unwritten custom, which, 
in a kingdom composed of such motley elements, was a matter 
of much importance. He established a system of arbitration 
and favoured trial by combat. The proceedings in all courts 
were open ; the dukes presided over those in their provinces, the 
r/rafen, as their deputies, in the Gauen or hundreds. The 
judges were everywhere assisted by assessors or Schojfen, who 
formed a kind of jury. Under Otto the law never became 
foreign or artificial, but was always popular and easily under- 
stood. It was said of him that his laws were not written on 
parchment but inscribed on men's hearts. The king's law, the 
people's law, the feudal law, and the law of service, developed 
themselves, according to the law of custom, in great variety. As 
among the Merwings and the Carlings, the king was the centre 
of the empire : wherever he happened to lodge was his govern- 
ment and his court. He decided on public affairs with the help 
of his counts and bishops, whom he chose to invite as he re- 
moved from one palace (called in Germany Pfalz) to another. 
It was said of him, " His house is in all places in the German 
territory, and he will see everywhere and determine for himself 
what goes on in his country." He did not stay long in any one 
place, but his favourite resting places were his castles in the 
Harz, Goslar, Quedlinburg, as well as Kyffhauser in the 
Goldene Aue (the Golden Meadow). His restless life contributed 
to the unity of his kingdom. His court exhibited especial 
splendour on great church festivals, when he received the 
visits of the spiritual and lay dignitaries, the duty of his vassals, 
the tribute and the presents of his people. In the court of the 
sovereign there was a cheerful and motley life wherever he 
stayed. Feast succeeded feast with little cessation, but there 
was business as well as pleasure, the most important matters 
being determined on often, according to ancient custom, during 
the banquet itself. Now were settled questions of war or 
peace ; treaties were made or denounced with foreign kings or 
peoples ; bishops and counts were appointed, and new fiefs and 
privileges given. The travelling camp of the sovereign took 
the place of the more formal diet of the Carlings. The times 
of assembly often coincided with the great church festivals, 
especially Christmas, Easter, and "Whitsuntide, when, according 
to the old English expression, the king " wore his crown." 

Otto gave the Lusatian Mark to Gero, a Saxon, of no dis- 
tinguished birth, but of great daring and cunning. He fought 
against the Luitizen and other Wendish peoples, who lived 



326 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 919 to 

between the Saale and the middle Elbe to the Oder. He once 

invited thirty of their chiefs to a banquet, and, when they 

were all well drunken, killed them ; and at last 

R;* ™?'". he reduced all the Wendish tribes as far as the 
the wends. ^ , t t t 

Oder, and made them tributary, so that even 

the duke of Poland recognised his suzerainty. Hermann, the 
Billing, treated in the same way the Wends living between the 
mouths of the Eider and the Haff. For the conversion of the 
heathen Otto founded the archbishopric of Magdeburg and the 
subordinate bishoprics of Merseburg, Zeitz, Meissen, Branden- 
burg, and Havelberg. But the Slavs detested Christianity, and 
also the Germans who had brought it to them, and tried to force 
it upon them with such cruel atrocities. Harold Bluetooth had 
driven the Saxons out of the mark of Schleswig, and subdued 
all the country between the Eider and the Dannewerk. In 947, 
Otto invaded Denmark and recovered Schleswig for the empire. 
He pressed on as far as the north of Jutland, and fixed his 
spear in the waves to mark the limits of his dominions, and the 
place was called Ottensund. He founded the bishoprics of 
Schleswig, Ripen, and Aarhus, and placed them under the 
direction first of Hamburg, and then of Bremen. The con- 
version of the Baltic Wends to Christianity proceeded from the 
bishopric of Oldenburg, which was afterwards removed to Lubeck. 
Towns sprang up on the Elbe, the Oder, and the Danube. The 
Bohemians, who had joined Boleslav, the murderer of his 
brother Wenzel, in throwing off the German supremacy, were 
again brought into subjection. In 950, Otto made war against 
Boleslav and compelled him to submit. His pious son, Boleslav 
II., not only became a vassal of the Germans, but accepted 
Christianity as the religion of his kingdom, and established a 
bishop's see in Prag. By this and similar actions Otto attained 
such eminence that the ambassadors of France, Italy, and 
Burgundy met in his camp with the chiefs of the Wends, 
Bohemians, Hungarians, and Danes, and he exchanged presents 
with the emperor of Constantinople and the khalif of Cordova. 

We must now consider Otto's activity in Italy, a country 
which had been given up to confusion, lawlessness, and cor- 
ruption of morals since the extinction of the 
Italy 111 power of the Carlings. Many Italian nobles had 
tried to attain the position of king, but none 
founded a lasting dominion. The longest to reign was Hugo 
of Lower Burgundy, who made himself detested by his 
severity, and was the husband of Marozia, whom we have 



a.d. 973] THE EMPIRE RESTORED 327 

already mentioned. He was driven out of his position, first 
by Alberic II. and then by Berengar, marquis of Ivrea, who 
obtained the sovereignty, but shared it with Hugo's son, 
Lothar. At first Berengar ruled with mildness, and won the 
affection of all ; but, after Hugo had died in Burgundy in 947, 
and Lothar at Turin in 950, he became cruel and tyrannical. 
The interference of Otto in Italy is due to a romantic incident. 
When Berengar heard of Lothar's untimely death, he sum- 
moned the grandees of Italy to a meeting at Pavia, and 
persuaded them to choose himself and his son Adalbert as 
kings, and they both received the crown of Lombardy in 
December 15, 950. After this, Berengar grew yet harsher, 
and became unpopular, so that a report arose that Lothar 
had died of poison. Lothar had left behind him a widow, 
Adelheid, daughter of Rudolf II. of Burgundy, who laid claim 
to the throne of Italy. She was beautiful and of high character, 
and in every way suited to be a ruler. Berengar and his wife 
Villa conceived a deadly hatred for Adelheid ; they persecuted 
her, deprived her of her jewels, and threw her into prison at 
Garcia, where she remained four months. 

Adelheid contrived to escape in a wonderful manner with 
the assistance of a priest, and, passing over the mountains, 
reached first Camerina, where she found protection, and then 
Reggio. The ill-treatment of Adelheid came to the ears of 
her brother, Conrad of Burgundy, who was protected by 
Otto, and her mother Bertha. Adelheid had always dis- 
tinguished herself by the kindness which she had shown to 
pilgrims who were travelling to Rome, and it is said that 
even Gero had been her guest. The grandees of the kingdom 
gave their consent, but Liudolf, duke of Swabia, Otto's son, 
whose wife Ida was the half-sister of Adelheid's mother, 
impatiently anticipated his father and invaded Italy first. 
He had hoped that Italy would rise in his favour, and that 
he would meet his father crowned with laurels, but, instead 
of this, he suffered from hunger and sickness, and had to 
return with shame and to meet his father with his wasted 
host, as he approached the Brenner, and entered into the 
valley of the Adige, in September 951. Otto reached Pavia 
on September 23, and sent his brother Henry of Bavaria to 
bring Adelheid into the camp. He then married her with 
great pomp, and invested her with large possessions, so that 
she became one of the richest women in the world. This 
marriage gave Otto a claim to the Oarling succession of Italy, 



328 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 919 to 

and the Burgundians joined him. He reduced the whole 
country without opposition from Berengar, called himself 
" King of the Franks and Lombards and King of Italy," and 
invested his followers with fiefs. Bishop Manasseh, who opened 
to him the gates of Verona, was made archbishop of Milan. 
In the beginning of the following year he was recalled to 
Germany, leaving his son-in-law Conrad as his representative. 
Conrad, however, gave Italy back to Berengar, on the condition 
that he should submit to Otto and recognise him as his over- 
lord. Berengar went to Magdeburg, accompanied by Conrad, 
and was afterwards, at the diet of Augsburg in 952, invested 
by Otto with the fief of Italy. But the mark of Friuli and 
the territory of Verona were given to Henry of Bavaria — an 
act of evil omen for Italian unity in the future. 

Liudolf of Swabia and Conrad of Lorraine were very angry at 
the favoiir thus shown to Henry, and they divided the royal 
house against itself. They soon had other sup- 
R 1 1^ P 01 ^ - ; Lorraine, Franconia, Swabia, and Bavaria 

wavered in their allegiance. Frederick, arch- 
bishop of Mainz, joined them, and they had adherents even in 
Saxony. They took possession of Mainz and Regensburg, and 
Otto besieged them in vain. Civil war raged on the Meuse, 
the Rhine, and the Danube, and the rebel sons even entered 
into relations with Hungary. But Otto pursued a steadfast and 
successful policy. Lorraine returned to its allegiance, chiefly by 
the help of his brother Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, and the 
archbishop of Mainz surrendered before his death. Conrad and 
Liudolf begged for pardon. Their castles and their property 
were restored to them, but their dukedoms were taken away. 
Swabia was given to the aged Burchard, who had married the 
youthful daughter of Henry. The archbishopric of Mainz was 
conferred on Otto's natural son, William. Bruno, who had been 
entrusted with the government of Lorraine, divided it into two 
parts, each of which was placed under a duke. 

The Hungarians had long recovered from the defeats which 
they had suffered in the reign of King Henry, ami had re- 
Renewed sumed their raids into the south of Germany. 
Hungarian The disturbances of that country in the civil 
Invasions. W ar, an j the condition of Italy, where there was 
no emperor to control its government, invited them to new 
enterprises. They extended their forays as far as the Adriatic 
and the Po in the south, and as far as the Danube in the west. 
A hundred thousand strong, they invaded Bavaria, passed into 



a. d . 973] THE EMPIRE RESTORED 329 

Swabia, and encamped in the plain of the Lech, while some of 
them pushed on to the Black Forest. They were met by Bishop 
TJlrich of Augsburg, who did his best to defend his town. 
Otto now attacked them at the head of a larger army than 
their own. He was joined by the Bavarians and the Franks, 
Swabians, and Bohemians, and the population of 
the Rhine. On August 10, 955, the day of St. Lechfeld 
Lawrence, the royal army advanced against the 
enemy in eight divisions, the king in their midst. Before him 
was borne the lance of the Archangel Michael, and when that 
appeared victory never failed. The leader of the first division 
was Conrad, ex-duke of Lorraine, the hero of the day. The battle 
of the Lechfeld, as it was called, was, at first, unfavourable to 
the Christians, as they were attacked in the rear, but Conrad 
charged the enemy with his Franks and drove them to flight. 
The king followed, and in a short time the Hungarians were 
routed, but, in the midst of the battle, Conrad the Red, as he 
was called, the husband of Liutgard, the daughter of Otto, was 
killed by an arrow in the throat. Otto pursued the routed 
army to Regensburg, but the time was yet to come when 
the wild Hungarians were converted to Christianity by their 
sainted king, Stephen I., who civilised them, so that they 
gave up their nomad life and settled in the plains of the 
Danube, 

The last important act of Otto's life was to revive the " Holy 
Roman Empire" of Charles the Great. In 961, he held a diet 
at Worms, where his son Otto, born of Adelheid, Revival of 
now seven years old, was chosen as his successor Charle- 
and crowned at Aachen. He then prepared to magne's 
cross the Alps a second time. Berengar had not Empire, 
fulfilled his duties as vassal, and after the death of Liudolf, 
September 9, 957, recovered virtual independence. Pope John 
XII. asked Otto to restore peace in Italy, and offered him the 
imperial crown. In the autumn of 961, accompanied by 
Adelheid, he descended into the valley of the Adige. All the 
towns opened their gates to him, and he kept his Christmas in 
Pavia. In February of the following year, he otto 
advanced to Rome, and in the church of St. crowned 
Peter received the imperial crown and the sword at Rome, 
from the pope's hand. Adelheid was also anointed and crowned 
as partner in the empire. Thus, on February 2, 963, was 
founded the " Heiliges Romische Reich der Deutscher Nation." 
Thus began the connection between Italy and Germany, which 



330 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 919 to 

was of great advantage to Germany, but also the cause of 
great trouble. Otto confirmed John XII. in the possession 
of Rome, but claimed the right of a feudal superior over the 
whole of Italy. On February 19, he issued an edict by which 
he gave to John everything which the papacy had gained since 
the donation of Pepin — Rome with its duchy, the exarchate 
of Ravenna,^"and the Pentapolis, the Sabina, some towns in 
Tuscany and Campania, and property in Benevento, Naples, 
Calabria, and Sicily, whenever he should conquer them, as well 
as Gaeta and Fondi. But all these possessions were conferred 
with the reservation of the imperial rights, as they had been 
laid clown in 854 in the constitutions of Lothar. Otto also 
retained a suzerainty over the civil government of the pope, 
especially in questions of law. The state of things was re- 
stored which had existed in Carling times. Before Otto left 
Rome on February 14, the Romans took the oath of fidelity 
to him, and the pope swore upon the grave of St. Peter that he 
would never take the side of his enemies. 

Scarcely had Otto left the " Eternal City " when the pope re- 
gretted what he had done. He joined Berengar, and attempted 
Pope t° rouse the Hungarians and Turks against the 

John XII. emperor. Otto returned to Rome, and deposed 
deposed. Pope John. This pope was Octavius, the son of 
Alberic and Marozia, who ascended the papal throne at the 
age of sixteen, and spent a cheerful life in the Lateran, with 
his young friends, playing, making love, and drinking. He 
was now solemnly dethroned on December 4, and on the follow- 
ing clay, contrary to all law and custom, Leo, a respected papal 
official, was elected to his place, taking the name of Leo VIII. 
Otto took hostages from the Romans, and made them swear 
that they would never in future choose or consecrate a pope 
without the formal consent and confirmation of the emperor. 
Berengar was banished to Bamberg. On Otto's departure, 
John, who had taken refuge in the mountains, returned again. 
He drove Leo out of the city, but died of a stroke of apoplexy. 
The Romans, to show their independence, elected a pope of 
their own, who assumed the title of Benedict V. Otto, how- 
ever, succeeded in restoring Leo, while the anti-pope, Benedict, 
died in Capua. Otto made a third expedition to Rome in 966, 
when, Leo being dead, he caused John XIII. of Capua to be 
elected pope. 

Otto was now at the height of his power. As regent of the 
holy church and head of the European state system, he 



a.b. 973] THE EMPIRE RESTORED 33* 

ordered everything, civil and ecclesiastical, internal and ex- 
ternal. He endeavoured to unite the Christian powers in 
a common struggle against Islam and heathendom, and to 
prepare his son to continue the work by having him crowned 
in Rome and marrying him to Theophano, daughter of the 
Byzantine emperor, so as to effect a union between East and 
West. In 967, the young Otto crossed the Alps, and was 
crowned in the cathedral of St. Peter's, but the marriage with 
Theophano was not carried out for some time. He did not 
reach Italy again till 972, when he was crowned with great 
pomp on April 14. Otto died on May 7, 973, in the castle 
of Memleben, where his father had died before him. He was 
buried in the church of St. Maurice at Magdeburg, by the side 
of his wife Edith. Otto presents the aspect of a born ruler, 
to whom age gave fresh dignity and majesty. His form was 
strong and vigorous, and he had great charm of manner. Even 
in his later years he was a vigorous hunter and an excellent 
rider, and in his bronzed face shone clear and sparkling eyes. 
His head was covered with sparse grey hair, and his beard 
hung long and thick down his breast. He wore the national 
German dress with no foreign ornaments, and only spoke the 
Saxon dialect, although he understood the Romance and Slavonic 
tongues. He divided his day between work and prayer, business 
and church services. He took but little sleep. 

Generous, merciful, and affable, he drew the hearts of all to 
himself, but he was more feared than loved. His wrath was 
hard to bear, and even the young emperor trembled before the 
growl of the lion, as he called his father. He exhibited an 
iron will from youth to age, and was full of energy even to 
the close of his life. He was always true to his friends, and 
magnanimous to his enemies, and, when he had once forgiven, 
he forgave for ever. No emperor had ever a higher standard, 
both of his kingly and of his imperial duties. He considered 
that he held his crown from God alone, and that anyone who 
offended his majesty was an offender against the commands 
of heaven. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE EMPIRE. A.D. 973-1106— THE CRUSADES, A.D. 1096 AND 1146. 

Otto II., who reigned for ten years, from 973 to 983, had fine 
qualities, a good education, and a chivalrous temper, but he had 
not the wisdom or the capacity for ruling pos- 
' sessed by his father and grandfather. At first 
his mother, Adelheid, possessed great influence over the young 
emperor, but this was afterwards transferred to his Greek wife, 
Tb.eopb.ano, the daughter of the Byzantine emperor, Romanus 
II., and his Spartan consort. She brought into the Saxon court 
new magnificence and unwonted luxury, and was more admired 
than beloved. In the early years of his reign, Otto kept the 
example of his great father before his eyes, and, like him, had 
to crush rebellion on the part of his own kinsmen. The reign- 
ing duke of Bavaria was Henry the Quarrelsome, son of the 
Henrv who had been such a faithless brother to Otto I. 
Henry's sister, Hedwig, had married Burchard of Swabia, and 
on her husband's death it was supposed that she could con- 
tinue to rule his duchy, but Otto took it away from her 
and gave it to his nephew Otto, the son of Liudolf, whom 
he loved clearly. This deeply offended his cousin Henry, who 
had a strong dislike to Liudolf and his house. Otto also 
made the eastern part of Bavaria into an independent mar- 
graviate, under the name of the Ostmark, afterwards Austria, 
and gave it as a fief to the Frankish family of Babenberg. 
Henry, aggrieved by these proceedings, took part in a con- 
spiracy to drive his cousin from the throne, and was confined 
in the castle of Ingelheim. Soon after this, the Danes and 
Norwegians made an incursion into Germany, but Otto drove 
them back and gained possession of the Dannewerk, which 
had been originally built by the Saxons. In the meantime, 
Henry had escaped from prison and raised the standard of re- 
bellion in Bavaria. The lands on the upper Danube and the 
Isar were wasted by civil war, but Otto was victorious. Henry 
took refuge in Bohemia, and twenty -eight of his adherents were 

332 



a.d. 973-1106] THE EMPIRE 333 

placed under the ban of the empire. The territory of Bavaria 
was again diminished by making Carinthia and Verona into a 
single mark, and by extending the dominions of the Baben- 
bergers and of the bishoprics of Salzburg and Passau. Finally, 
Bavaria, thus diminished, was united to Swabia. These 
measures did not please Adelheid, so she left the court and 
retired to Burgundy. The property taken away from the rebels 
was given mainly to the church. 

These disturbances gave an opportunity to Lothar of France, 
the last Oarling but one, son of Louis d'Outremer, to take 
possession of Lorraine. He advanced even to the -^ ar 
imperial city of Aachen, and, finding the eagle at between 
the summit of the palace looking towards the France and 
east, turned it towards the west, as a sign that Germany, 
the city belonged henceforth not to Austrasia, but to Neustria. 
In revenge, Otto invaded France, crossed the Seine, and reached 
the heights of Montmartre, but was not able to conquer Paris. 
Otto suffered some losses on his retreat, and, at a meeting held 
at Chiers, peace was made, and Lothar renounced his conquest. 
Otto also imposed his authority on Poland and Bohemia, and 
did his best to Christianise these eastern lands. He now 
followed his father's example, by making an expedition to Italy, 
his design being to unite the countries on both sides of the Alps 
into one kingdom. He was accompanied by his wife, Theo- 
phano, his little son, and a crowd of young knights, eager for 
illustrious deeds. Before his departure, he became reconciled 
with his mother Adelheid, and he reached Rome by way of 
Ravenna. 

In Rome matters were in a terrible condition. Boniface VI., 
the successor of John XIII. , had been driven from his throne by 
the popular party and strangled in the castle of 
St. Angelo. He was succeeded by Boniface VII., ^j s at 
who ran off to Constantinople laden with papal 
property. Benedict VII., bishop of Sutri, was elected in his 
place, a good man who endeavoured to do his best. The Sara- 
cens were infesting southern Italy under Abulkasem, but were 
kept in check by Pandolfo, the Ironhead, whom Otto I. had made 
prince of Capua and Beneventum, and duke of Spoleto and 
Camerino and Salerno. The throne of Byzantium was held by 
weak emperors, who were ill-disposed to Otto, and, to make 
matters worse, Pandolfo died just before his arrival, leaving his 
power in weak hands. Rome was really governed by Crescen- 
tius, a rich Sabine nobleman, son of Theodora, who, as duke, 



334 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 973 to 

ruled pope and people with an iron hand. Otto restored the 
power of the pope, and Crescentius retired to the convent of 
St. Boniface on the Aventine, where he spent the rest of his 
life in attempting to make amends for his evil deeds. 

Otto pitched his camp in the Leonine City, not far from St. 
Peter's, and soon found that it was necessary to 
it i° m expel the Saracens from southern Italy and the 
Byzantines from Apulia and Calabria. He entered 
the territory of Amalfi, and spent his Christmas at Salerno. 
He also got possession of Bari and Taranto. But he suffered a 
serious defeat at the hands of the Saracens on July 13, 982. 
The Saracens were concealed in the heights of Squillace, south 
of Cotrona, where the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas nearly meet. 
As Otto was attacking a division of the enemy on the sea-shore, 
he was surprised and surrounded by a force lying in ambush 
on the hills. All resistance was in vain. Otto's army was en- 
tirely defeated, many of his knights, both German and Italian, 
were slain. Otto sprang into the sea and swam to a ship, which 
took him to Theophano at Rossano ; when in sight of the town, 
he sprang again into the water and reached the friendly shores. 
Thence he retired first to Salerno and Capua, and then to 
Rome. Apulia and Calabria were again overrun, and the dis- 
order extended even to the north of Italy. 

In 983, Otto held a diet at Verona, attended by German 
and Italian nobles, where he made another attempt to unite 
Germany and Italy into a single kingdom. His 
Diet at gon otto, then four years old, was chosen, with- 
out opposition, as his successor. His mother, 
Adelheid, was made regent of Italy, and the duchies of Swabia 
and Bavaria were placed in trustworthy hands. He now 
planned a new expedition to southern Italy to avenge the 
defeat of Squillace, and, in October 983, hastened to Rome, 
where Pope Benedict VII. lay dying. He established as his 
successor John XIV., bishop of Pavia and arch-chancellor 
of the empire, who was known to be friendly to the empire. 
But bad news came from Germany. The Danes had again 
stormed the Dannewerk and gained possession of the Eider ; 
the Wends in Brandenburg had resumed their heathen rites ; 
and the Obo tribes from Mecklenburg had plundered Hamburg. 
Sorrow at these misfortunes produced a violent fever, so that 
Otto II. died on December 7, 983, at the age of twenty-eight. 

The princes of the empire were employed in crowning 
Otto, a child of four years old, in the cathedral of Aachen 



a.d. 1106] THE EMPIRE 335 

when the news of his father's death arrived and aroused them 
to the importance of providing for the fateful future. Henry 
the Quarrelsome, of Bavaria, released from prison, 

• • Otto III 

made a claim to the regency during Otto's 
minority, taking no account of Theophano. He obtained 
possession of the young king's person, was recognised by 
some of the most important men in the kingdom, and made 
schemes for assuming the crown. The Carling Lothar of 
France joined him on the promise of the cession of Lorraine, 
and the duke of Bohemia was attracted by the promise of 
Meissen. But the young Otto found a mighty protector 
in Willigis, a man of humble birth, who had been made 
archbishop of Mainz. He summoned both Adelheid and 
Theophano from Italy, brought the Frankish and Swabian 
dukes over to his side, secured the powerful aid of Adalbero, 
archbishop of Reims, and the learned Gerbert, who, having 
been made by Otto II. count-abbot of Bobbio, had come 
to visit his friend Adalbero in France. Gerbert was one 
of the most remarkable men of the age, equally at home in 
philosophical speculation and in affairs of state. Henry was 
obliged to surrender his charge, to renounce the royal title, 
and to release from their oaths all the vassals who had sworn 
allegiance to him. Theophano was recognised as guardian 
and regent, and went with Adelheid and the young king to 
Saxony. In the following year, 985, Henry made ample 
submission, and received back his duchy of Bavaria. 

Theophano proved to be a good ruler, and it is interesting 
to note that her brother was at the same time seated on 
the throne of Constantinople, so that the two 
empires of West and East were governed by 5k Sen £ y ° f 
members of the same family. Meissen was now 
recovered from the Slavs by the Markgraf Eckhard of Thiiringen, 
who carried the war into Wendish territory, and took measures 
for the permanent defence of the Teutonic frontier. In Scandi- 
navia, German authority suffered a reverse when Harold 
Bluetooth was murdered in 985 by his son, Sven Forkbeard. 
The bishoprics founded by Otto I. were destroyed, and the 
heathen religion again raised its head. But a few years 
afterwards Sven himself was again converted to Christianity. 
In the midst of these troubles, Theophano died. Eagerly 
anxious to uphold the honour and unity of the empire, she 
celebrated the Easter festival of 991 with great splendour at 
Quedlinburg with her son, but died suddenly at Nijmegen, 



336 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 973 to 

011 the lower Rhine, on June 15. A tender plant, with re- 
fined education and great beauty, she was transplanted among 
the rough and simple Saxons, but bore herself with dignity 
and distinction. She died at the age of thirty, when her son 
Otto was eleven. 

The regency was now assumed by Adelheid, who was 
assisted by a council of civil and ecclesiastical notables, amongst 
Early whom Willigis of Mainz, as imperial chancellor, 

Training took the principal place. Every precaution was 
of Otto. taken in the education of the youthful sovereign 
for his important duties. His physical training was under- 
taken by Count Hoiko of Saxony. John of Calabria, a learned 
man, whom Theophano had made bishop of Vicenza, taught him 
Greek. Bernward, later bishop of Hildesheim, known as a 
man of letters and an artist, directed his general education, 
which Avas carried further by the mighty Gerbert, the marvel 
of the age, who afterwards became Pope Silvester II. No 
one could ever boast of more distinguished tutors. The con- 
sequence was that Otto III., like Edward VI., was full of 
precocious learning, and anticipated the Emperor Frederick 
II. in receiving the title of the "Wonder of the "World." 
Indeed, his brain and character were hardly strong enough to 
bear this forcing. He became conceited, and was especially 
puffed up by uniting in his person the blood of the Eastern 
and Western empires. He was the prey of flatterers, and 
was too often led away by passing fancies. At the age of 
fifteen he took the reins of government into his own hands, 
Adelheid retiring to Alsace, where she founded the nunnery 
of Selz. 

Otto now undertook an expedition into Italy, where matters 
were no better than before. Rome was governed by the 
younger Crescentius, named John, and Capua 
It ,° m was in a state of disorder. Otto, the first down 
appearing on his cheeks, collected his followers 
at Regensburg and crossed the Brenner, the Holy Lance 
carried before him, his retinue singing hymns. Alter a 
short stay at Verona, where he settled a dispute between the 
Doge of Venice and the bishop of Belluno, he kept his 
Easter at Pavia. Here he received news of the death of 
Pope John XV., and, being asked to nominate his successor, 
chose his own kinsman Bruno, son of Otto of Carinthia, a 
young ecclesiastic of excellent qualities, but stern and some- 
what pessimistic. Bruno went to Rome accompanied by 



a.d. 1106] THE EMPIRE 337 

Willigis and Hildebald, bishop of Worms, and, on May 3, 
996, he was elected pope with the title of Gregory V., the 
first German occupant of the Holy See. It is said that his 
election marks the liberation of the papacy from the narrow 
limits of the town and aristocracy of Rome, and brings it 
into connection with the whole world. Otto reached Rome 
soon afterwards, and, on May 20, was crowned otto 
emperor in St. Peter's. It must have been crowned 
strange to witness these two youths in the great a * Rome. 
basilica, one twenty-three, the other fifteen years of age, one 
the grandson, the other a great-grandson, of Otto the Great, 
respectively at the heads of the ecclesiastical and civil worlds. 
Crescentius could not stand against then united power ; 
liberated from banishment, he tendered his submission. 

But no sooner had Otto left Rome than Crescentius violated 
his oath of allegiance, deposed Gregory V., who had made many 
enemies by his reforming severity, and raised 
John of Calabria, Otto's former tutor, to the rjreeetiu 
papacy, under the title of John XVI. Cres- 
centius assumed the titles of Patricius and Count, and entered 
into relations with the court of Constantinople. Otto, who was 
engaged in a war with the Wends, and in learned disputations 
at Magdeburg, again crossed the Alps, accompanied by Otto of 
Carinthia, the pope's father. He went by way of Ravenna, 
and kept his Christmas of 997 at Pavia. Crescentius shut him- 
self up in the castle of St. Angelo, and Pope John fled into the 
Campagna and took refuge in a tower, but, on the arrival 
of the emperor, he was torn from his hiding-place, his eyes were 
burnt out, his tongue, nose, and ears were cut off, and, in this 
guise, he was set upon a donkey and led through the streets of 
Rome. He was then publicly stripped of his bishop's robes and 
thrown into prison, where it is supposed that he died. The 
castle of St. Angelo was stormed by Eckhard of Meissen on 
April 26 ; Crescentius was beheaded on the summit of the 
edifice, and his body was exposed on the gallows on the heights 
of Monte Mario. He was, at length, buried in the church of 
San Pancrazio in the Trastevere, on which the inscription com- 
memorating him long remained. The nobles who had joined 
his party also perished. 

In the following year, February 18, 999, Pope Gregory V. 
died suddenly, in the flower of his age, as many thought, by 
poison. Otto now raised his friend Gerbert to the Holy See, 
having first made him archbishop of Ravenna. He took the title 

Y 



338 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 973 to 

of Silvester II. Otto's dream was to restore the ancient glories 
of Rome, to make it the capital of the empire, and to surround 
Gerbert ^ with the pomp of Byzantium. He went far 

Pope — beyond the ideas of Charles the Great. The 

Imperial fancies in which he lived were as vague and 
Dreams of shadowy as they were magnificent. The Senate 
of ancient Rome, with its wisdom and govern- 
ment, the conquests and triumphs of a Trajan, the spiritual 
elevation of a Marcus Aurelius, the court of Constantinople 
with its united splendour of West and East, formed the magic 
circle in which his imagination moved, and he prepared him- 
self for his mighty task by strict penances and many pil- 
grimages. He united in his character many inconsistencies — 
the glory and the renunciation of the world, princely pride, 
and the self-abasement of an anchorite. He assumed at the 
same time the titles of Ttalicus, Saxonicus, and Romanus to 
mark his triumphs, and of the " Slave of Jesus Christ and 
His Apostles " to denote his spiritual victories. He lived for 
a fortnight in the vaults of San Clemente, fasting and 
praying, visited the graves of the martyrs, and dwelt in the 
cave of St. Benedict at Subiaco. He is said to have expected 
that the end of the world would come in 1000 a.d. Un- 
fortunately Gerbert favoured the eccentricities of the young- 
emperor, although he was a worldly man himself. It is to be 
feared that he played the part of a flatterer. He wrote to him 
that it was by divine providence that he was by birth a Greek, 
by dominion a Roman, and that he had inherited the treasures 
of Greek and Roman wisdom. He reminded him that as a 
monarch he was obeyed by Germany, France, Italy, and the 
Slavs, and that he wore the greatest crown in the world. 

Otto despised his native Saxony, and looked longingly to the 
East. He and Gerbert contemplated the recovery of the Holy 
Sepulchre. He also, like his grandfather, desired the welding 
of Germany and Italy into one dominion. He even appointed 
an admiral for the Roman fleet, and revived the dignity of 
Patricius and Praefectus Urbi. He also tried to re-establish 
the privileges of Roman citizenship. He was recalled to 
Germany by his own failing health, undermined by his religious 
excesses, and by the death of his aunt Matilda in Quedlinburg 
and his grandmother in Selz. During his stay he paid solemn 
visits to the graves of two men whom he held in special honour 
as types of religious spirituality and imperial greatness — Saint 
Adalbert of Prague and Charles the Great. Adalbert was a 



a.d. 1106] THE EMPIRE 339 

Bohemian nobleman who had exchanged the bishopric of Prague 
for a monkish cell on the Aventine. In 991, he had gone to 
the Baltic to convert the heathen Prussians, and he had been 
killed on the Amber Coast, where a cross still marks the spot of 
his martyrdom. The Polish duke Boleslav embalmed the body, 
and buried it in Gnesen in Poland in the year 1000. Otto, 
accompanied by the duke, made a pilgrimage to the grave of 
the martyr, and founded there the first archbishopric and 
mother church of Poland. He then went to Aachen, and 
founded a second church of St. Adalbert. With his first sword- 
bearer, Count Otto of Lomello, he visited the grave of the Great 
Charles. Otto tells us that the emperor's body was not laid in 
a grave, but sat upright upon a throne like a man alive. The 
hands were dressed in gloves, through which the nails had 
grown : the grave was covered with marble slabs and chalk. 
The two visitors threw themselves on their knees before the 
emperor, and prayed. Otto carefully observed the body, placed 
new white robes upon it, had the nails cut, and supplied 
deficiencies. The features were all perfect except the tip 
of the nose, which Otto restored with gold. He took a tooth 
of the emperor with him, and had the grave walled up 
again. 

Soon after this, Otto heard that Capua had revolted and 
had recalled her Lombard masters ; that Salerno, Naples, and 
Gaeta had thrown off the imperial yoke. Leaving otto's Last 
Aachen at the Whitsuntide of 1000, he crossed Visit to 
the Alps from Chur, and spent some time in Italy. 
Lombardy to recover his health. He reached Rome in October. 
He was, however, compelled to leave by the rising of the citizens, 
and retired to Ravenna. He soon returned with a large force, 
and fixed his summer camp at Paterno, at the foot of Soracte. 
From this place he directed his expedition, sometimes appear- 
ing before the walls of Rome, sometimes laying waste the 
Campagna with fire and sword, and sometimes reaching even 
to Beneventum and Salerno. The winter he passed at Ravenna 
with the hermit Romuald. He was further embittered by 
the quarrel about the precedence between his two friends 
Willigis of Mainz and Bernward of Hildesheim, which he 
did his best to settle by a general council held at Todi on 
December 27, 1001. Then he returned to his camp at Paterno, 
where he slowly wasted away from fever. On January 23, 
1002, he received the holy elements for the last time from 
the hands of Pope Silvester, and died with his eyes fixed on 



340 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 973 to 

the walls of the Holy City which he was not permitted to 
enter. Gerbert followed him to the grave on May 12, 1003. 

Thus perished the last of the Ottos, for Otto III. was never 
married. His body, carried hastily over the Alps, was buried 
Decay of * n tne ca thedral of Aachen. His life was a 

Royal failure, with shattered hopes and unfulfilled de- 

Power in signs. Whilst he was pursuing the ideal of the 
Germany. Roman commonwealth, making pilgrimages to 
dead men's graves, or engaging in subtle disputations at Magde- 
burg or Rome, the country between the Havel and the Elbe 
remained in the hands of the heathen, the bishoprics founded 
amongst the Wends fell into abeyance, the empire was diminished 
in the north and east, and independent kingdoms, founded on 
a national basis, arose in Poland and Hungary. The land 
princes of Germany asserted their pretensions, and the imperial 
feudatories attained more and more an hereditary character. 
If Charles the Great could have awakened from his death 
slumber, he would have rated his successor soundly for neglect- 
ing his duties. Otto was pursued by the hopeless passion for 
the possession of Italy, which so often proved the bane of 
Germany. He remains the Phaethon of German history, who 
perished on the banks of the Tiber because he could not guide 
the sun. His memory is kept green rather by poetry and 
legend than by the surer verdict of history. 

On the death of Otto III. the German throne was disputed 
by three claimants— Henry of Bavaria, son of Henry the 
Quarrelsome; Eckhard, margrave of Meissen; and 
Henry . o Hermann, duke of Swabia. Henry was recognised 
as king by the nobles of Franconia, Bavaria, and 
Upper Lorraine : he was crowned by Willigis at Mainz, and ac- 
knoAvledged as supreme ruler by the magnates at Merseburg, 
so that before the end of the year his position was undisputed. 
He had to defend his crown by constant wars against Germans, 
Italians, and Slavs. He first subdued the Lombards, then the 
Bohemians, and then the Poles, under their duke, Boleslav. 
He joined the king of France and the duke of Normandy in 
an expedition against Baldwin of Flanders, who had taken 
Valenciennes ; and he received a promise from Rudolph III. of 
Burgundy that, after his death, his kingdom should be added 
to the empire ; so that he not only preserved but expanded 
the dominions to which he had succeeded. Perhaps his most 
conspicuous work was building the cathedral of Bamberg, 
which was dedicated on May 6, 1012. In the following year 



a.d. 1106] THE EMPIRE 341 

he marched a second time into Italy, and was crowned in 
Rome with his queen, Cunigunda, on February 14, 1014, when 
he persuaded Pope Benedict VIII. to cross the Alps and bless 
his darling Dome at Bamberg. A third expedition to Italy 
was undertaken in 1023, directed against the Greeks of the 
south, and was carried out with the help of the Normans, 
who, as we have seen, had established themselves in those 
parts. Shortly after his return he died, on July 13, 1024, in 
his castle at Grone, near Gottingen. 

Henry II. was the last of the Saxon emperors, and the 
crown passed to the Franks in the person of Conrad II., gene- 
rally known as the Salian. He was crowned king 
of Germany by Archbishop Aribo at Mainz, 
receiving the insignia from Cunigunda, the widow of Henry. 
Conrad reigned from 1024 to 1039. In 1026, he went into 
Italy, received the iron crown in Milan and the imperial 
crown in Rome, in the presence of Canute, king of England 
and Denmark, and of Rudolph of Burgundy. Rudolph died 
in 1032, and eventually the Romance and the Carinthian por- 
tions of Burgundy were separated, the lands of the Rhone 
Saone, Isere, and the Durance going to France, while Franche 
Comte and Switzerland fell to Germany. Conrad died at 
Utrecht on his return from his second visit to Italy in 1039, 
and was buried in the cathedral of Spires, which he had 
founded. He was succeeded by his son Henry 

TTptiw TT ; i 

III., who increased the power of the empire * 

by depriving the duchies of their hereditary character. He 
made two expeditions into Italy, and married Agnes of Poitou, 
heiress of Aquitaine, in 1045. On his death in 1056, the 
crown passed to his son Henry IV., a child of 
six years old. At the age of twelve he held festival enry 
with his mother, who was acting as regent, at Kaiserswerth, 
on the Rhine, and invited Hanno, archbishop of Cologne, to 
pay him a visit. The boy was induced to examine the arch- 
bishop's galley, when, at a signal, the rowers bent to their 
oars, and the young king was carried off to Cologne. In order 
to escape, he jumped into the stream, and was saved from 
drowning by Eckhard, who was in the conspiracy. Thus Hanno 
became guardian to the king, instead of Agnes. Three years 
later, at the age of fifteen, he was girded with the sword at 
Worms, and took the government into his own hands. He was 
a victim of the contest, between ecclesiastical and civil powers, 
which reached its greatest intensity at this time. In the 



342 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 9731106 

following year, 1066, the year of the Norman invasion of Eng- 
land, Henry married Beatrice of Turin, whom he gradually 
learned to love, and who made him a good wife. 

The most important episode of Henry's career was his 
struggle with Hildebrand, who, as Gregory VII., held the 
Henry's papacy from 1073 to 1085. On January 1, 1076, 

Quarrel Henry, in his palace of Goslar, received a message 

with from the pope bidding him give up his life of 

Gregory VII. s { n ^ an( j a tone for his offences by public penance. 
A diet, held at Worms on January 24, replied that the pope 
must leave the chair of Peter, which he had acquired by unjust 
means, and be no longer recognised as head of the church. 
Henry directed this missive in the following terms : " Henry, 
not by favour, but by God's holy appointment, king, to Hilde- 
brand, not the pope, but a false monk." This message was 
carried to Rome by two German and Italian bishops, who, 
when they delivered it, cried out before the cardinals and 
bishops present : " The king and our bishops order you to 
come down from the chair of Saint Peter, which you have 
obtained not by right, but by robbery." Gregory, not less 
proud and stubborn, deprived all the German bishops who 
had signed the letter of their sees, laid his ban on Henry, 
deposed him from his office, and absolved all his subjects from 
their oath of allegiance. Unfortunately, Henry was not sup- 
ported by his nobles. They met at Tribur on October 16, and 
declared that they would no longer recognise Henry as their 
lord and king, if he did not reconcile himself with the pope. 
The result was that Henry had to do penance before Hilde- 
Henry at brand in the castle of Canossa, situated on a 
Canossa. peak of the Apennines, in the neighbourhood 

of Modena. For three days he stood before the castle gate in 
the shirt of penitence, though it was the middle of winter, before 
the stubborn pontiff would admit him to his presence. Having 
promised with an oath to forgive his rebellious nobles, he fell at 
the pope's feet in a flood of tears, and received the papal blessing. 
Mass was celebrated in the castle church, and the ban was re- 
moved. Henry received his imperial crown again, but its glory 
had passed away to the pontifical tiara. The struggle as to " in- 
vestitures," in which the church and the crown counter-claimed 
the right of investing prelates with the insignia of office, was ended 
by the Concordat of Worms in 1122 — a compromise in favour of 
the pope — under Henry's son, Henry V. Henry died at Liege 
in August 1106, and was buried in the cathedral of Spires. 



A.n. 1096-1146] THE CRUSADES 343 



THE CRUSADES, A.D. 1096 AND 1146. 

If we study the map of Europe as it was in the beginning 
of the twelfth century, we shall find its appearance very dif- 
ferent from what it was at the fall of the Roman Europe in 
empire. It is beginning to show something of the Twelfth 
the main features which distinguish it in our Century, 
own day. Passing from west to east, we find Spain mainly in 
the hands of the Moors. A very large France is bounded by the 
Rhone, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, and this includes not only 
France but Belgium. Between France and Germany lie the two 
duchies of Upper and Lower Lorraine, of large extent, Alsace 
being a small strip to the east of the upper duchy. Modern 
Holland is represented by Friesland. To the south of Lorraine 
lies the kingdom of Burgundy, or of Aries, as it is sometimes 
called, shortly to be divided between France and Germany. 
Germany is occupied by the three great duchies of Swabia, 
Frankland, and Saxony. Swabia contains Wiirtemberg and 
Switzerland — Frankland, the upper Rhine provinces, and what 
is now called Franconia — Saxony lying to the west of the 
modern country of that name, bounded on the east by the Elbe 
and watered by the Weser — Germany extending northwards 
over Holstein to where the Schlei separates it from Denmark. 
To the south of Swabia is the kingdom of Italy, to the east 
of which lie the marquisate of Verona and the duchy of 
Oarinthia. North of this we find the great duchy of Bavaria, 
including the whole of what is now called Austria, but then the 
East March or Ostmark. We next come to the Slavic countries 
to the east of the Teutons, Bohemia and Moravia, watered by 
the upper Elbe and the Moldau, the march of Meissen, the 
march of the Lausitz, and another eastern march or Ostmark 
(not to be confounded with that of Bavaria), the North March, 
and Berlin, the kernel of modern but not of medieval Prussia, 
which lies far away to the north-east. North again of this, in 
the countries of Mecklenburg and Oldenburg, is seated the 
powerful race of the Billing, who gave their name to Billings- 
gate. A further eastern strip is formed by Pomerania and 
Hungary. These divisions have only been given roughly ; to 
state them more accurately would occupy too much space, while 
the boundaries and designations of the countries are subject to 
perpetual change. 



344 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. ioog to 

It was from a Europe constituted something in this manner 
that the Crusades were undertaken. The states of modern 
Europe had begun to make their appearance, and the stirring 

Causes °^ the national spirit had begun to be felt. 

of the Europe was ready for a collective enterprise. 

Crusades. There was none that was so likely to appeal to the 
imagination or the reason of her rulers as the attempt to 
recover from the hands of the infidel the holy places where the 
Founder of our religion had lived and suffered. The church 
Was now a predominant factor in civilised Europe. Progress 
and enlightenment owed more to the bishop than it did to the 
prince. The state would not be likely to undertake any 
enterprise in which the church did not feel an absorbing 
interest. The Crusades may therefore be regarded as a great 
international effort made by the United States of Europe, which 
had just begun to realise their solidarity and power, at the 
bidding of a church which had too much authority to be 
lightly disobeyed. 

As early as the fourth century after Christ, it had become 

the custom to undertake pilgrimages to Palestine for the health 

of the soul, or to do penance for the sins of a guilty 

to Palestine ^ e ' an '* to l 3ra ^ at tne se P lu "chre or Christ, the 
holiest place in the world for Christians, which 
the Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena had covered 
with a stately dome and consecrated as a church. The idea that 
ascetic self-denial in this world was one of the surest methods 
of securing happiness beyond the grave gave prominence to the 
merits of a long and perilous journey to the East ; the inclina- 
tion to make such a pilgrimage would naturally acquire a greater 
strength when the belief began to spread that the world would 
come to an end soon, perhaps in the year 1000 ; and the impulse 
thus given did not sensibly slacken throughout the eleventh 
century. The safety of the pilgrims began to be a matter of 
national concern. In the year 1064, a large company of 7000 
persons of all nations, laymen and clerics, made a pilgrimage to 
the Holy Land and Syria, with Siegfried, archbishop of Mainz, at 
their head, of whom only about two thousand returned, the rest 
finding a grave either in Palestine itself or on the journey. 
So long as the holy places were under the domination of the 
Arabs, safety might be purchased by the payment of a ransom, 
but when Palestine was conquered by the Seljukian Turks, 
Christians, whether pilgrims or residents, were treated with 
great severity. The great pontiff Hildebrand, the mighty Pope 



a.d. 1146] THE CRUSADES 345 

Gregory VII., was not likely to turn a deaf ear to their com- 
plaints, yet his quarrel with the Emperor Henry made action 
difficult. But Urban II., in answer to appeals from the emperor 
at Constantinople, took advantage of a lull in the strife to stir 
up western Europe to wage the First Crusade. The famous 
pilgrim Peter the Herrnit aided the Pope, travel- 
ling far and wide to preach the crusade and wLffj* 
rouse the pity of western Christendom for the 
sufferings of pilgrims and the desecration of the holy places. 
Clad in a simple robe, girt with a cord, his face worn by 
ascetic self-denial, he told his piteous tale, and his success was 
marvellous. Meanwhile Urban, in the year 1095, summoned a 
meeting at Clermont in France, which was attended by bishops, 
nobles, and a countless host of common people. The Pope 
himself closed an eloquent speech by an appeal that every one 
should deny himself and take up his cross that he might win 
Christ. A great shout arose : " God wills it ! " and thousands 
knelt down and devoted themselves to the service ; and the name 
of Crusader, the wearer of the cross, which marked those who 
bore it as members of a sacred army marching for the recovery 
of the sepulchre of their Lord and God, came for the first time 
into existence. 

It had been arranged at Clermont that the expedition should 
start on August 15. 1096, in order to give those that took part 
in it time for preparation, but the delay was too 
tedious for the excited crowd. In the spring of crusade 
that year motley and undisciplined throngs, led 
by Peter and by a French knight called Walter the Penniless, 
marched through Germany and Hungary to Constantinople. 
They stormed Semlin and threatened the walls of Belgrade, and 
many thousands were slain. A remnant reached Constantinople, 
and were sent across the straits into Asia Minor, where they 
perished at the hands of the Turks. Walter fell, after a short 
resistance, surrounded by his brothers and his bravest com- 
panions. A hundred thousand men had perished in this 
manner, when Godfrey de Bouillon, duke of Lorraine, with his 
brothers Eustace and Baldwin, and a host of knights and nobles 
from the lower Rhine, the Meuse, the Moselle, and the Scheldt, 
began the march through Hungary towards Constantinople. 
At the same time other bodies of crusaders started from 
northern and southern France and from southern Italy — some 
by land, through Lombardy and Dalmatia, others by sea, 
from south Italian ports — led by Robert of Normandy, son of 



346 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.b. 1096 to 

William the Conqueror, — by Stephen of Blois, who was said to 
have as many towns in his possession as there are clays in the 
year, — by the rich and powerful Count Raymond of St. Giles 
and Toulouse, who is reported to have had under him a hundred 
thousand men, and with whom marched Adhemar de Puy, the 
papal legate, and many bishops, — and by Boemund of Taranto 
and his nephew Tancred, sung by poets as the flower of knightly 
virtue, who brought the Normans of Sicily and Naples. 

Arriving at Constantinople, they found Alexius Comnenus on 

the throne. He was much frightened at their approach, but 

Successes of ne compelled their leaders, as they successively 

Godfrey de arrived, to promise that any conquests they might 

Bouillon. make should be held as fiefs of the Byzantine 

empire. They then crossed to Asia Minor and held a review in 

the plain of Nicaea, in which, we are told, were mustered 

100,000 heavy-armed knights, 300,000 armed footmen, besides 

women and children, monks, priests, and camp-followers. Nicaea 

surrendered after a siege, but to Alexius. In July 1097, the 

battle of Dorylaeum was won by the bravery and skill of 

Godfrey of Bouillon, and in the following year his brother 

Baldwin became prince of Edessa. The important city of 

Antioch, on the Orontes, was captured on June 3, 1098, and was 

saved from recapture by the discovery, real or supposed, of the 

Holy Lance by which the side of Christ was pierced at the 

crucifixion. In Whitsuntide of the following year the crusaders 

obtained their first sight of Jerusalem. They fell upon their 

knees in prayer, and tears flowed from their eyes. 

Taken ^ ^ ie ^ e S e was conducted with great difficulty, but 

in July 1099, the Holy City was conquered. It 

was determined to form the new conquest into a kingdom, and 

the crown was offered to Godfrey, but he refused it, saying that 

it would be sacrilege to wear an earthly crown where his Master 

had worn a crown of thorns. 

Godfrey contented himself with the title of " Protector of 

the Holy Sepulchre," and justified this appellation by the victory 

The °f Ascalon, on August 12, over the Egyptian host, 

Kingdom of which gave the crusaders much booty and 

Jerusalem. .secured the existence of the new kingdom. This 

pure and noble character died from the effect of the exertion 

and the climate on July 18, 1100. His sword and sword-belt 

are still preserved in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, bearing 

the arms of Jerusalem, four cross crosslets or on a field argent, 

the only arms in which metal is borne on metal, representing 



a.d. 1146] THE CRUSADES 347 

the dove with silver wings and her feathers of gold. Baldwin, 
prince of Edessa, had not the scruples of his brother, but 
hastened to Jerusalem and assumed the title of king, which, 
alter following various fortunes till the end of the thirteenth 
century, was finally claimed and probably is still borne by the 
houses of Savoy, Anjou, Lorraine, and Austria. Baldwin held 
the crown of Jerusalem from 1100 to 1118, constantly engaged 
in wars, not without success. The Norman Boemund died 
in 1111, and Tancred secured for himself the principality of 
Antioch, which long remained in his family. The first crusade 
was followed by the rise of the great Orders ^he Orders 
of Christian chivalry, the Knights of St. John of Knight- 
and the Knights Templar, the first of which are hood. 
better known as the Knights of Malta and still exist under their 
old name, while the fate of the second forms one of the saddest and 
most discreditable pages of medieval history. In 1144 Edessa, 
the bulwark of the Christian empire of the East, fell into 
the power of the Saracens, and the vain hope of recovering 
it was the leading motive of the Second Crusade. But, with 
the exception of Ascalon, no important addition was ever 
made to the kingdom of Jerusalem as it stood at the death 
of its third ruler, Baldwin II., in 1130. 

Between the first crusade and the second, which was first 
preached in 1146, great vicissitudes had befallen the empire. 
Lothar of Saxony, who succeeded Henry V., had L tfiar and 
as son in-law Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria, Henry the 
of the family of Guelph, Welf, or Wolf. Lothar Proud. 
invested him also with the duchy of Saxony, so that he united 
in his possession two great German duchies, enclosing Swabia 
and Frankenland between them and threatening them with ex- 
tinction. When Lothar died on December 3, 1137, he gave his 
insignia of the empire to Henry, but the German nobles would 
not acknowledge a prince of such overwhelming power and of 
such imperious disposition. So, with the archbishop of Trier at 
their head, they met at Coblentz, and on March 7, Conrad of 
1138, chose as emperor Conrad, brother of the Hohen- 
duke of Swabia, of the house of Hohenstauffen. stauffen. 
Conrad took a strong line. He deprived Henry of his duchies, 
placing him under the ban of the empire, and giving one to Albert 
the Bear, the founder of the Ascanian house, and the other to 
his own half brother, Leopold of Austria. The Hohenstauffen 
came originally from the castle of Waibling in the Remsthal, 
in what is now the kingdom of Wiirtemberg, and they were 



348 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. io96-H46 

called by that name. And when the double election produced 
a serious feud between the two houses of Welf and Waibling, 

it spread to Italy and raged there for three hun- 
Ghibenfnes dred years under the name of Guelf and Ghibel- 

lines. In Italy the Ghibellines were generally the 
supporters of the emperor and the Guelf s of the pope, but in 
many Italian cities the titles had lost all significance, and 
meant little else but a feud between two rival families. 

When Henry the Proud died in 1139, Conrad restored the 
duchy of Saxony to his son, Henry the Lion, giving Albert the 
Bear the mark of Brandenburg, in exchange, as an independent 
principality. Further, after Conrad's death Bavaria was given 
back again to the Welf family, and in compensation the Baben- 
berg margraves of Austria were made into independent dukes, 
who fixed their capital at Vienna. Thus the quarrel between 
Welf and Waibling was the indirect cause of the rise of the 
two powers, Aiistria and Prussia, whose rivalry fills the whole 
of modern European history, and is hardly yet finally concluded. 
The empire, however, did not gain in strength by this dispute ; 
the Slavs, the Burgundians, and the Italians began to assert 
their independence, while Pope Innocent II. acknowledged 
Roger, duke of the Normans, as king of the Sicilies, which he 
took as a fief from the pope himself. 

The capture of Edessa in 1144, and the consolidation of the 
Moslem power in northern Syria, gave occasion for a new 

crusade, which was preached by St. Bernard, 
C C de° n abbot of Clairvaux in Burgundy. Conrad III. of 

Germany and Louis VII. of France assumed the 
cross. Conrad marched through Hungary to Constantinople, 
and reached the coast of Asia Minor ; but on the way to 
Iconium he was misled by false guides, and the whole of his 
magnificent army gradually wasted away. Warned by this, Louis 
chose the route along the sea-coast, by Smyrna and Ephesus, 
but met with nearly the same fate. The two monarchs came 
together at Jerusalem, and foolishly attacked Damascus, whose 
emir had been an ally of the fourth ruler of Jerusalem, King 
Fulk. But the enterprise ended in nothing, and the monarchs 
returned home. Conrad died on February 15, 1152, a man of 
talent and virtue, but with wasted gifts. He left the empire in 
need of a strong head, and such a one was found in Frederick 
Barbarossa, one of the greatest of German emperors. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FREDERICK BARBAROSSA, A.D 1152-1190— THE THIRD CRUSADE. 

After the death of Conrad III. on February 15, 1152, the 
princes of the empire, passing over Conrad's son, a child of 
seven years, chose, on March 4, his nephew, Frederick of 
Frederick of Hohenstauffen and of Waibling, in Hohen- 
Frankfort as German king, and five days after- stauffen. 
wards he was consecrated and crowned in the church of St. 
Mary at Aachen, by Arnold, archbishop of Cologne. Many 
circumstances contributed to bring about this quick decision. 
Not only did his personal qualities justify the warmest hopes, 
but, by his connection with the rival house of Welf, he 
seemed to be the true corner-stone by which the contentions 
between the houses might be ended. By his mother, Judith, 
the sister of Henry the Proud, Frederick was a cousin of 
Henry the Lion, and the nephew of Welf VI., for whom he 
had already performed many services. Besides this, the German 
nation was anxious to preserve the same princely family, and 
to put a limit to freedom of choice, without expressly recognising 
the right of inheritance, and also to give some weight to 
the wishes of the departed king. A happier choice could 
not have been made. Frederick was now thirty-one years 
old, of middle size and well grown : his light hair and reddish 
beard, which he had in common with many of his family, 
won for him the name of Barbarossa from the darker Italians. 
His courteous manners, his blue sparkling eyes, and his cheerful 
countenance attracted everybody ; and through these external 
advantages he was a prominent personality amongst all the 
princes of the time. He was inferior to none in knightly 
exercises, in hunting, or in any form of bodily exertion. His 
contemporaries said that he was master of his passions, a friend 
of justice, bold and undismayed, full of warlike courage, generous 
but not extravagant ; that he had a penetrating intellect, and 
a gift of deliberative wisdom. His memory was never at 
fault ; he was very eloquent in his own language ; Latin he 

349 



350 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1152 to 

understood better than he could speak it ; he was full of kindness 
for his friends, but terrible against his enemies ; he had 
sympathies with science and art ; he was a deep student of 
history, and spent much of his time in antiquarian studies. 

The first occupation of his reign was to bring about peace in 
Germany ; but, before he had accomplished this, he determined 

to undertake a journey to Italy, in order to 
Frederick obtain the imperial crown, and to make the 

empire more respected in that country. In the 
first days of October 1154, a large army was collected in 
the Lechfeld, close by Augsburg, to accompany Frederick in 
his first journey to Italy by way of Brixen and Trent. 
The march was conducted with great order and discipline. 
After a rest on the lake of Garda, the army encamped on 
the Roncalian Plain, in the neighbourhood of Piacenza, where 
from time immemorial the German kings had been accustomed 
to hold their reviews and courts of justice. The shield of 
the emperor was exhibited on a staff, which was a sign to 
the vassals that they should come to him in arms, and that 
they should perform the honourable duty of guarding his tent. 
All that did not obey his summons, especially the ecclesiastical 
princes of Bremen and Halberstadt, were deprived of the 
fiefs which they held of the emperor. Many were the signs 
of the disturbed condition of Italy. The marquis of Mont- 
ferrat, almost the only noble of upper Italy who had not 
bent before the power of the communes, complained of the 
increasing pride of the towns, especially of Chieri and Asti. 
Como and Lodi, supported by Pavia and Cremona, renewed 
the complaints which they had already made at Constance 
against Milan. In vain did the Milanese send two eloquent 
men into the camp, and offer the king 4000 marks to con- 
firm their lordship over the two towns. Frederick refused 
to hear them, saying that he would make an inquiry on 
their own territory, and discover what was right. The army 
now marched forward. It was the duty of the Milanese to 
supply its material wants, but they led the way through 
those districts which had been entirely laid waste in the 
war between Milan and Pavia. Want of food, heavy rain, 
and snow-storms caused discouragement and disgust, and at 
last the king lost his temper. He rased the town of Rosate, 
and also Chieri and Asti. The citizens took refuge in the 
mountains. Whilst the king was encamped before Asti, 
ambassadors arrived from Pavia, and complained that their 



a.d. 11901 FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 35* 

fields had been -wasted by the inhabitants of Tortona, which 
was in league with Milan. Frederick took their side and 
marched against the town, which was built on a high rock. 
It stood a long siege, but was at last taken. The town was 
given up to plunder, and the citadel destroyed. Frederick was 
determined to break the republican pride of the Lombards, 
which threatened to destroy his rights in Italy, and to restore 
the legal position of his authority. But, for the moment, he 
contented himself with being crowned at Pa via, on the 15th 
of April 1155. 

After three days' sojourn, he proceeded to Rome. The pope 
at this time was Hadrian IV. He went as far as Viterbo to 
meet the emperor, and sent an embassy to welcome 
him to that place. Hadrian was an Englishman Hadrian IV 
named Breakspear. He had been driven from 
the monastery of St. Alban's as a boy, — had wandered along the 
roads as a beggar, — at last, by hunger, shame, and a desire for 
knowledge, had been led to France, — and after many adventures 
had been received in a monastery near Avignon, where after a 
time he was chosen prior. Sent to Rome to conduct the business 
of his monastery, he attracted the attention of the Pope, 
Eugenius III., by his education, eloquence, and striking appear- 
ance. He was made cardinal-bishop of Albano, and was sent 
on a mission to Denmark and Norway, where he organised the 
church with equal wisdom and power. 

After his return, Nicholas Breakspear was chosen unanimously 
to be head of the church. Times were stormy ; he said himself 
that the apostolic chair was covered with thorns, The p pe 
and the papal mantle was pierced by swords, and Arnold 
He would not recognise the Senate, and was of Brescia. 
therefore forbidden to enter the city, and had to take up his 
residence behind the church of St. Peter, which was intrenched. 
He determined to upset the republican constitution which 
existed at that time, and to demand the surrender of Arnold of 
Brescia, who was at the head of it. The Senate was reluctant 
to banish that influential preacher, who was reverenced by the 
people as a divinely-inspired prophet. A disturbance arose, in 
which it happened that a cardinal, while on his way to visit the 
pope in the Leonine city, was mortally wounded. The pope 
avenged himself by pronouncing an interdict against the city, 
the effect of which was to stop all divine service ; no bell was 
rung, no mass was said, no sacrament was consecrated, and 
baptism and extreme unction were performed with rites of 



352 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1152 to 

terror. The dead were not buried in consecrated earth, and 
marriages were celebrated in the churchyards. The Romans 
endured the punishment from Palm Sunday to Maundy Thurs- 
day, but as the festival of Easter approached their spirits were 
disturbed by sorrow and unrest. It seemed as if Christ would 
not rise for the Romans, as He was wont. Then the people 
bestirred themselves, and the senators threw themselves before 
the knees of the pope, praying for his pardon. Hadrian 
demanded the banishment of the reformers, and would not 
take his curse from the town until this condition had been 
fulfilled. He had conquered in the strife. Arnold, betrayed 
and deserted, wandered from fortress to fortress under the ban 
of the church. The Holy Father, surrounded by bishops and 
cardinals, proceeded, amid the acclamations of the people, from 
St. Peter's to the Lateran. It was just at this time that he 
heard that Frederick was on his way to Rome. 

Frederick secured the goodwill of Hadrian by delivering up 

the person of Arnold, but their harmony was nearly broken by 

Frederick the refusal of the emperor to hold the stirrup of 

and the the pope as he descended from his horse. This, 

Pope. however, was got over by the persuasion of his 

nobles. Frederick held the stirrup of the vagabond beggar boy, 

and as a reward received the kiss of peace, which had at first 

been refused. 

When he approached Rome, Frederick encamped with his 
army at Monte Mario, and in the dawn of the following day he 
accompanied the pope to the Leonine city, which 
r t, was garrisoned with a thousand armed men, and 

received in the church of St. Peter the sword, 
sceptre, and crown of the empire from the hands of the pope. 
This took place on June 18, 1155. The Romans in the capital 
heard with horror that a foreign king had received the imperial 
crown from a foreign pope without the consent of the Roman 
people, and without swearing to obey the laws of the city. In 
a hot summer noon a crowd of men passed over the bridge 
of St. Angelo towards St. Peter's. The Germans hastened to 
repulse them ; a terrible fight took place ; at least a thousand 
citizens were killed by German swords or drowned in the waters 
of the Tiber ; the rest, attacked by Henry the Lion in the rear, 
ran away, and fled either to the castle of St. Angelo or to the 
town. Two hundred were taken prisoners, and many were 
wounded. Arnold of Brescia had not long to wait for the 
fulfilment of his fate; he was given up to the praefect of the 



ad. 1190] FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 353 

city, a nobleman from the neighbourhood of Viterbo who had 
long been at variance with the Roman republic. Arnold saAV 
the preparations for his execution, and when the 
halter was just being laid around his neck, he was executed 
asked whether he would renounce his errors and 
confess his sins. He answered, undismayed and full of con- 
fidence, that he considered his teaching wholesome, and would 
not be afraid to die for what he had taught. He then knelt, 
lifted his eyes and hands to heaven, and sighed, and com- 
mitted his soul to God without a word. Then he gave his 
body to the executioners, who performed their duty not 
without tears. When he had been strangled, his corpse was 
thrown into the fire and his ashes scattered over the Tiber, 
because it was feared that even his ashes might become an 
object of reverence. 

Frederick's second expedition to Italy took place in the 
Whitsuntide of the year 1158. A large army collected in 
the neighbourhood of Augsburg, drawn from g , 
more than twelve German nations. The bishops visit to 
and vassals of the empire hastened to show Italy — The 
their devotion to the imperial cause. The Greek Lombards 
ambassadors, who had tried to bring the towns of su ° dued - 
the coast under the dominion of Byzantium, were sent away 
with threatening words, and their Italian partisans were com- 
pelled to acknowledge the supremacy of the emperor. The 
army descended into the plains of Italy in five divisions. 
Some crossed the eastern passes of Friuli, some the western 
passage of the Splugen to Chiavenna and Como. The emperor 
himself, with the most important princes and bishops, passed 
through the Tyrol to the lake of Garda, followed by Henry 
the Lion with his Saxon warriors. The Italian vassals met 
them at Brescia, and the forces of the towns favourable to 
the empire — such as Pavia, Parma, and Cremona — joined the 
army, which now numbered 100,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry. 
The first object of the emperor was the punishment of 
Milan, and siege was laid to the capital of Lombardy at the 
beginning of August. The blockade continued for several weeks, 
with much brave fighting on either side, until peace was made 
by the intervention of Count Guido of Bianclrate, who was 
loved and honoured by the people, yet was the head of the 
German party in Milan. The Milanese made a treaty by 
which they bound themselves to recognise the independence 
of Lodi and Como, to give up all imperial property and all 

Z 



354 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1152 to 

rights of supremacy, to take the oath of allegiance to the 
German sovereign, to pay a fine of 9000 marks in silver, to 
give up 300 citizens as hostages, and to build a fortress. Upon 
this the emperor withdrew his ban, and promised to lead 
his army away, and to abstain from any further punishment. 
It was arranged that the city should be governed by consuls, 
chosen by itself, but that their appointment should be con- 
firmed by the emperor. The submission of the town was 
consummated on September 8. The whole body of the citizens 
came out of the gates, in humble clothing with bare feet — 
first the clergy, with crosses in their hands ; then, the consuls 
and the knights, each carrying a bare sword on his back, and 
last of all, the citizens, with halters around their necks. 
When they reached the camp, passing through the line of 
German warriors, they threw themselves down before Frederick, 
who was seated upon his throne, acknowledged their fault, and 
prayed for pardon. Frederick answered them with courteous 
words, advised them to be obedient for the future, and then 
set all the prisoners free. Even the Germans wept when they 
saw the meeting between the prisoners and their friends. 
Frederick then went to Monza, where he wore the iron crown 
of Italy, and was able to send a large part of the army home, 
including the Bohemians and Hungarians. The imperial 
banner now waved on the highest towers of Milan, and 
Lombardy seemed to be at peace. 

After this, in November 1158, a diet was held on the 

Iloncalian Plain, to settle once for all the rights of the 

emperor and the different classes of the empire 

Rtmcaelia * n -^aly. For this purpose, two deputies were 
sent from fourteen Lombard towns, who were to 
discuss these questions with four of the most famous jurists of 
the university of Bologna. It was useless, however, to argue 
with the master of so many legions, or to recall the fact that 
many of the powers previously held by the Lombards, Caro- 
lingians, and Germans who had borne rule in Italy had 
passed into other hands — into those of bishops or of communes. 
The Italians had no alternative but to acknowledge that those 
rights now belonged to the emperor. In the most solemn 
manner, all the clerical and civil princes who were present, 
as well as the consuls of the towns, gave back their rights to 
the emperor. There is no doubt that this created a different 
state of things from what had actually existed up to this time, 
and reduced Italy to the state of a vassal kingdom. Since the 



a.d. 1190] FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 355 

time of Otto the Great, no ruler had appeared in Italy with 
such power as Frederick possessed, after the diet of Roncaglia. 
Yet it was clear that, although an outward peace had been 
secured, passions still glowed under the ashes. Frederick had 
not realised the strength of the new form of public life which 
had grown up out of the ruins of the past, setting up popular 
officers in rivalry to those deputed by the emperor. But the 
spiritual power of the church, and the love of freedom in 
the towns, were antagonists which, though for the moment 
bent, could not be entirely subdued. He found evidence of 
this in the resistance of Genoa, which he only punished by 
the imposition of a fine. He found it also in the policy of 
Pope Hadrian IV., who refused to submit himself, and claimed 
as his own independent dominion not only the country sur- 
rounding Rome, but some districts in the north, as k well as 
the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. 

The strongest resistance, however, came from Milan itself. 
When, in the spring of 1159, the commissioners came to Milan 
to nominate consuls on the basis of the deci- 
sions of Roncaglia, and a podesta to represent the Resistance 
emperor, the citizens objected that they had the 
right of choosing their own masters. The dispute grew warm, 
and a popular rising was the result ; stones were thrown at the 
palace where the imperial commissioners were lodged, and 
they had some difficulty in saving themselves. They went to 
Frederick's camp, which was in the neighbourhood of Turin, 
and represented matters in their worst light. The result was 
that Milan was again placed under the imperial ban ; the 
property of the citizens might be plundered with impunity, 
their persons enslaved, and their town destroyed. Milan was 
so little affected by these threats that on the same day it 
undertook an expedition against the castle of Trezzo, which still 
stands, surrounded by the rushing Adda, and compelled the 
imperial garrison to submit. But the vengeance of the emperor 
was not long delayed. First turning his arms against the little 
city of Crema, which had risen in revolt, and rasing it to the 
ground, he marched on Milan, which was the centre of the 
opposition. The struggle lasted for two years, but the city 
yielded at last in March 1162. 

The whole of that month was spent in inflicting indignities 
upon the conquered rebels. On March 1, the great waggon 
called the Caroccio, with its white banner, was given up. The 
flags were laid at the emperor's feet, and the keys of the town 



356 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1152 to 

given to him. On March 6 appeared the citizens themselves, 
high and low, with cords around their necks and ashes on 
their heads. They fell on their knees and cried 
D * tr ed l°ud for pardon , holding crosses in their out- 
stretched hands. Frederick chose from the consuls, 
the knights, and the most important citizens 400 hostages, and 
compelled the whole people to take the oath of unconditional 
ohedience. On March 26, orders were issued that all the in- 
habitants should leave the town with their property, and should 
betake themselves to four open fields ten miles distant from each 
other. We may imagine the misery and despair of the wretched 
people, as they left their beloved town, the scene of their happi- 
ness, their freedom, their prosperity, and their memories, to 
seek a refuge at a distance. But the worst was yet to come. 
Milan, which was the centre of all the disturbance, the seat 
of republican freedom, which had espoused the side of the 
banished Pope Alexander, was to drink the cup of degrada- 
tion to the dregs. Orders were given to Pavia, Oomo, Lodi, 
Cremona, and Novara to sweep all traces of Milan from the 
surface of the earth. The haughty town, the flower of Italy, 
was to fall in dust and ashes. A legend says that the emperor 
himself drove a plough over the place where Milan had stood, 
and sowed salt in the furrows, that it might be desolate for ever. 
The emigrants saw the pillars of smoke and fire, which marked 
the ruin of their houses and public buildings. The churches 
and the palaces of the nobles alone resisted the power of the 
flames ; the wall and towers, and everything which could assist 
the strength of the town, were torn down, and the ditches were 
filled up. In this way did the Lombard cities who favoured 
the emperor fulfil their vengeance and their hatred. 

The traveller on the railway between Milan and Lecco sees 

on the left-hand side a slender bell tower which marks the 

■Phe monastery of Pontida. Here, five years later, 

Lombard in 1167, the representatives of several Lombard 

League. towns, some already belonging to the league 

of Verona, promised by oaths and other symbols to remain 

faithful to each other, and to drive out injustice and violence. 

This was the beginning of the Lombard League. They had 

no desire to break their allegiance to the emperor, but merely 

to set limits to his power. One of their chief objects was the 

restoration of Milan, and the calling back into their ancient 

home its inhabitants, who were still living in the open fields. 

Among the most important members of the league were — 



a.d. 1190] FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 357 

Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Venice, Ferrara, Treviso, Brescia, Ber- 
gamo, Piacenza, and Mantua. Above all, Cremona, hitherto 
most faithful to the emperor, led the movement. Lodi re- 
sisted until it was compelled to join by force. Frederick 
appeared again in Pavia to put down the cities, but his army 
was decimated by a terrible plague, and he was compelled to 
retire in the next year. The Lombard League took advan- 
tage of this to organise and strengthen itself, and it was joined 
by the towns of Parma, Modena, and Bologna, which lay in 
the Aemilian Plain. The league was further strengthened by 
an alliance with the pope, and the town of Alessandria, in 
the neighbourhood of the battle-field of Marengo, remains at 
the present day a memorial of this alliance, bearing the name 
of its founder, Pope Alexander III. It was built where the 
Bormida flows into the Tanaro, close to the frontiers of Pavia 
and Montferrat. Its position was very strong, and it was pro- 
tected by earthworks. It formed a bulwark of liberty, and a 
protection against the Germans. Migration to it became so 
popular that only a year after its foundation it could send 
15,000 armed citizens into the field. In this way almost all 
the cities in Lombardy and Venetia, and some in the Romagna, 
became members of the league, either freely or by compulsion, 
and some of the feudal nobility were forced to join it. All the 
members bound themselves to be true to each other, and never 
to make a separate peace with the Hohenstauffens or their 
allies. Milan, which had been again surrounded with walls 
and gates, and had received new vigour from its misfortunes, 
stood at the head of the patriotic movement. 

Frederick bided his time, and in the autumn of 1174 he 
crossed the Alps for the fifth time, passing into Lombardy by 
the way of Susa and Turin. He had hoped to R e t urn of 
surprise his adversaries ; but the bad weather and Frederick — 
difficulties about food, and the bravery of the Battle of 
enemy, caused much delay. The imperial army Legnano. 
lay before Alessandria for four winter months. Floods had 
turned the country into a broad marsh, and the Germans were 
on the point of retiring without having effected their object, 
when reinforcements arrived from Germany. Philip of Cologne, 
the count of Flanders, and the archbishop of Magdeburg came 
to Frederick's assistance ; but all was in vain, and the mighty 
emperor had to retire towards Como. The great battle of 
Legnano took place on May 29, 1176. At first the Germans 
were victorious ; the emperor, dressed in shining armour, was 



358 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1152 to 

visible to all, with his banner-bearer by his side ; he broke 
through one of the enemy's wings, and compelled it to yield, but 
the centre was composed of Milanese, who, under the name 
of "The Company of Death,'' had sworn to conquer or to die. 
They resisted in a solid square, and with the " Sacred Company," 
who protected the Caroccio, stood firm as a wall, immovable, 
not to be pierced. For some time the brave citizens withstood 
the shock of the armour-plated knights ; then they took the 
offensive, and pressed with such violence upon the foe that they 
broke through the ranks of the imperial army, supported by an 
attack of the Brescians upon the flank. Frederick's banner- 
bearer fell, pierced by an arrow, and in the tumult of the battle 
Frederick himself fell from his horse and disappeared from view. 
A cry was raised, " The emperor has fallen ! " and terror broke 
the resistance of the Germans. Soon the flight was general, and 
the defeat complete. The allies who had come to help Frederick 
from Como were killed, almost to a man ; a rich booty fell into 
the hands of the conquerors, including the shield and lance of the 
emperor. But in vain did they seek the corpse of their enemy 
among the fallen ; they learned, to their great disappointment, 
that he had escaped by cross-roads to Pavia. 

After the battle of Legnano, peace was made between the 

emperor and the pope at Venice, where a congress sat from 

May to August 1177. But the final peace 

Constance between the Lombard cities and the emperor was 
only concluded on June 29, 1183, in the diet of 
Constance. It resulted in a complete victory for the towns. 
The emperor renounced all the " Regalien " or regal privileges 
which he had hitherto claimed ; he acknowledged the right of 
the confederated cities to levy armies, to fortify themselves, 
and to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction. The consuls 
were to be chosen by the citizens, and were then to be invested 
with the privileges of imperial vicars, which were to be re- 
newed every five years. The confederacy was allowed to extend 
itself for the purpose of maintaining these rights. On the 
other hand, the cities agreed to take the oath of allegiance to 
the emperor, to recognise his suzerainty, and to pay him the sum 
of 15,000 imperial ducats which he demanded as due to him. 

Whilst Fredeiick was occupied with the affairs of Italy, 
Henry the Lion, the great Guelph, the rival of the Hohen- 
stauffens, was extending his dominions in Germany, by the 
addition to them of Pomerania and Mecklenburg and other 
Slavic territories, so that his power extended from the Baltic 



ad. 1190] FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 359 

to the Alps, from the lower Rhine to the Oder. He treated 
the princes and bishops who were his neighbours in a manner 
which necessitated the interference of the Emperor Frederick 
Frederick. This produced a bad feeling between and Henry 
them, which was intensified by the refusal of the Lion, 
the duke to assent to the election of Frederick's son Henry, 
then five years old, as German king. Another cause of 
difference came between them. The head of the Guelph 
family (Welf VI.) was very extravagant, and offered to sell 
his hereditary possessions to Henry for a considerable sum 
of money. The duke, however, refused, expecting that these 
lands would eventually come to him by inheritance. Welf then 
offered them to the emperor, who, to the great disgust of 
Henry, purchased them. The consequence of this was that 
Henry did not give the emperor efficient assistance in the 
campaign of Legnano. When Frederick returned to Germany 
after his defeat, his first occupation was to settle matters with 
Henry the Lion, whose overbearing conduct had raised many 
enemies against him. He summoned him four times to appear 
before the diet to give an account of his proceedings, and four 
times he refused to come. The imperial ban was therefore 
issued against him, and his possessions were divided amongst 
other princes. Part of Saxony was given to Bernhard of 
Anhalt, son of Albert the Bear, but Westphalia was divided 
from it, and added as a dukedom to the archbishopric of 
Cologne. Styria and the Tyrol were separated from Bavaria, 
and the remaining provinces were given to Otto of Wittelsbach, 
so that the house of Wittelsbach now reigns in Bavaria. Otto 
had materially assisted Frederick in his Italian campaigns. 
In the first he had rescued him from serious danger in the pass 
of Rivoli, when the Veronese endeavoured to intercept him on 
his return, and in the second he contributed largely to the 
conquest of Crema. The sturdy old Lion had eventually to 
submit to the superior power of the emperor ; the ban was 
removed at Erfurt in 1181, and Henry was left in possession 
of Brunswick and Liineburg, but he was ordered to absent 
himself from Germany for three years. He spent these at the 
court of his father-in-law, Henry II. of England. In this 
country a third son, William, was born to him, who became the 
progenitor of the Guelphic house of Hanover and Brunswick, 
from which the royal house of England is descended. After 
the conclusion of the treaty of Constance, Frederick made in 
1183 a sixth expedition into Italy, and received a brilliant 



360 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1152 to 

reception from the Milanese, whom he had treated so badly. 
In 1186 his son Henry was married to Constance, the daughter 
of Roger II., and heir to her nephew, William the Good, king 
of Naples and Sicily. Having arranged his family affairs, and 
reduced his empire to a condition of comparative peace, he was 
able, at the age of sixty-seven, to take part in the third 
crusade, which was now beginning. 

In 1183 the famous Saladin, having suppressed the khali- 

fate of Cairo, had become the sole Moslem ruler in Egypt and 

Syria alike. The crusading kingdom, itself torn 

Palestine ^y faction, and now threatened for the first time 

by a united and aggressive foe, was saved for 

a moment by the victory of Ramleh in 1184. But its power 

was finally broken at Hittin, on Lake Gennesareth, on July 

5, 1187, and Jerusalem fell into Moslem hands. The crosses 

were pulled down, but the population was kindly treated 

by the magnanimous Saladin. The news of the 

ap ure o capture of Jerusalem was received by Western 

Europe with a thrill of horror. Crowds of 

warriors streamed towards the Holy Land, from the fiords of 

Scandinavia to the Gulf of Naples. In England and France, 

those who stayed at home had to pay a tax known as the 

Saladin tithe. Frederick Barbarossa, who had taken part as 

a young man in the second crusade, now determined to gild 

the declining years of his illustrious life by a great act of duty 

and self-sacrifice. 

The crusaders reached Constantinople in good order and 

discipline, and cowed into submission the weak Byzantine 

The Third emperor, Isaac Angelus. They then defeated 

Crusade, the sultan of Iconium, and punished him for his 

119 °- treachery. But at this point the great emperor 

died, being drowned in the mountain torrent Selef, the ancient 

Calycadnus, either when crossing it on horseback or when 

Death of bathing in it, as accounts differ. His second 

Frederick son, Frederick of Swabia, succeeded to the com- 

Barbarossa. mand of the German troops, and led them by the 

way of Antioch to meet Guy of Lusignan, who was at this time 

king of Jerusalem. Frederick died at the siege of Acre in 

1191, just after he had founded the Order of Teutonic Knights. 

The German army was wasting away when the kings of 

England and France, Richard Cceur-de-Lion and Philip 

Augustus, came to Syria by sea, and captured Acre on 

July 12, 1191. Richard performed prodigies of valour, and 



a.d. lieu] FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 361 

showed himself a worthy antagonist to Saladin, but Jerusalem 
was not recovered. Eventually a treaty was made with Saladin, 
by which the sea-coast between Joppa and Tyre was made 
accessible to Christians, and they were allowed to visit the holy 
sepulchre. On his way to Palestine, Richard had conquered 
the island of Cyprus from the Byzantine emperor. He now 
gave it to Guy of Lusignan as a compensation for the loss of 
Jerusalem, and it remained in his family for three centuries. 
Saladin himself died on March 3, 1193, leaving an immortal 
name in history. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE EMPIRE, A. D. 1190-1250— THE FOURTH CRUSADE, A.D. 1204. 

Frederick was succeeded as emperor by his son Henry VI., 
who reigned for seven years, and had many difficulties with 

Henry the Lion. He made two expeditions into 
y ' Italy, in the first of which he was crowned by 
Pope Celestine at Rome, while in the second he set his wife 
Constance free from imprisonment at Salerno — where, after being 
deprived of her duchy, she had been locked up by the Norman 
Tancred, an illegitimate scion of the royal line — and established 
his own power as king in Naples and Sicily. He treated 
Tancred's family with such cruelty that he incurred the censure 
of the pope. On his return to Germany he indulged in far- 
reaching but impracticable plans for extending the empire and 
making it hereditary in his family. He desired to include in it 
Apulia and Sicily, which his wife had brought him as a dowry, 
and to unite the two empires of West and East ; for which 
purpose he prepared to undertake a crusade, but died suddenly 
at Messina on September 28, 1197, at the age of thirty-two. 
As he left a son too young to be chosen emperor, the Ghibel- 
lines elected Philip of Swabia, the third son of Barbarossa, while 
the Guelfs put forward Otto IV., the second son of Henry the 
Lion, as king, which led to a ten years' civil war (1198-1208). 

In the meantime, the fourth crusade, which was preached by 
Fulk of Neuilly, was undertaken at the instigation of the great 

pope, Innocent III., in 1204 — the principal leaders 
i e rourui De j n g Baldwin of Flanders and the marquis of 

Montferrat. The event, however, turned out quite 
differently from what was expected. The French crusaders 
found themselves unable to pay Venice the amount promised 
for the transport of their forces, so the doge, Dandolo, deter- 
mined to commute the balance for assistance in the conquest 
of Zara on the Dalmatian coast, which had been wrested from 
Venice by the king of Hungary. This achieved, the crusaders 
were next urged to undertake an expedition against Constanti- 
nople, where a palace revolution was in progress. The Emperor 
Isaac Angelus had been dethroned and blinded by his brother 

362 



a.d. 1190-1250] THE EMPIRE 363 

Alexius III., and the victim had sent his son Alexius to ask 
help of the Venetians, with tempting offers of assistance in 
the crusade in return. Accordingly, in spite of papal interdict 
and excommunication, Constantinople was besieged, and the 
blind Isaac replaced on his throne. But the people detested 
the foreign intruders, and rose under Alexius Ducas, so that 
Isaac died of terror and his son was strangled. Thereupon the 
crusaders resolved to conquer Constantinople for ^ & Latin 
themselves, which they accomplished, storming Conquest of 
the city and destroying many buildings and Constanti- 
precious manuscripts. Alexius Ducas was killed, n °Pl e - 
and Baldwin became the first Latin emperor of the East ; but 
his direct authority was limited to the capital (outside the 
Venetian quarter), Adrianople, most of Thrace, and islands in 
the eastern Aegean. The marquis of Montferrat — as king of 
Thessalonica — ruled Macedonia and part of Thessaly. Princi- 
palities, duchies, marquisates, counties, and lordships were 
allotted to other crusaders. Above all, Venice secured full 
sovereignty over many islands and coast settlements of great 
commercial value, the Doge thus becoming " lord of a quarter 
and half a quarter of the empire." Innocent III., though 
condemning the sack, sanctioned the secular arrangements, 
and himself appointed a Latin patriarch, in the vain hope 
that the schism of East and West would now be healed. 

We left Germany disturbed by civil war between the Guelfs 
and the Ghibellines, Otto IV. representing the one and Philip 
of Swabia the other. Otto was at first successful, otto IV. and 
but the party of Philip was gradually strengthened Philip of 
by the adhesion of Otto's elder brother, the Pals- Swabia. 
grave Henry, the archbishop of Cologne, and the king of 
Bohemia, so that he was himself elected a second time, and 
was crowned by the archbishop in his cathedral. There was 
a prospect of peace being restored because Innocent III. was 
prepared to recognise him, but in 1208 he was murdered in 
Bamberg for reasons of private vengeance. Otto did his best 
to arrange the quarrel by betrothing himself to Beatrice, the 
daughter of Philip, who was only ten years old, and marrying 
her four years after. Innocent III. was perhaps the greatest of 
the medieval popes ; certainly the commanding position that the 
papacy obtained at that time was due to his energy and ability, 
and to that of his predecessor Hildebrand. He strove to place 
the spiritual power of the tiara before all earthly crowns, to 
make himself master over all kings and princes, and he succeeded 



364 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. noo to 

in making the kingdoms of England and Aragon tributary to 
the Holy See. He now ordered Otto to submit himself to a 
new election, and acknowledged him as king of Lombardy and 
emperor. But a new force was arising in Europe in the person 
of the Hohenstauffen Frederick IT., the gifted son of Henry VI., 
to whose career we must now devote our attention. 

Just at the time when the power of Henry VI. was at its 

height, having been strengthened by the destruction of his 

Norman enemies at Salerno, he heard that his 

p ir , . . ,, wife Constance, after eight years of childless 
union, had borne him a son at Jesi, in the mark 
of Ancona, on St. Stephen's Day, 1194, an event that seemed to 
promise him the peaceful possession of Apulia and Sicily. It 
had been intended at first to call him Oonstantine, but the name 
was afterwards changed to Frederick. The child was elected 
king of Germany in 1196, and he was to be crowned shortly 
afterwards ; but on September 28 in the following year, Henry 
died in Sicily and was buried in Palermo, at the age of thirty- 
two, leaving behind him the child of three. Philip, of whom 
we have already spoken — a noble character, well worthy of 
his father — became guardian of his nephew, but could not refuse 
the crown himself, as it would be unsafe to leave Germany in 
the hands of an infant. In May 1198, Constance brought her 
son from Foligno to Palermo, and had him crowned king of Sicily. 

The same year Pope Celestine died, aged ninety, and on the 

day of his funeral the cardinal-deacon Lothar, of the wealthy 

house of Conti, was unanimously elected pope, 
Innocent III. and tQok tbe ^^ q£ Innocent jj L We have 

already mentioned him ; he had been carefully educated, had 
studied theology and philosophy in the schools of Rome, Paris, and 
Bologna, and had been created cardinal at the age of twenty-nine 
by Pope Clement III., but was kept in the background by Celes- 
tine III., perhaps to his great advantage, because he was able to 
mature his mind and character in solitude and reflection. Thus, 
at the age of thirty-seven, he assumed the tiara, — a man of pure 
morals, of simple life, of strict piety, — a powerful preacher, a 
learned lawyer, a statesman, and a born ruler, — to govern a 
world that was in dire need of a strong hand to control it. 
His objects were to free the papacy from imperial control, and 
Italy from foreigners and feudal dissension, to base the power 
of the papacy on a territorial foundation, to form a great 
confederacy of the Christian world with the pope at its 
head, and thus to follow the example of Gregory VII. in 



a.d. 1250] THE EMPIRE 365 

making the papacy at once the national champion of Italy 
and the greatest power in the world. On January 22, after 
being crowned in St. Peter's, he made his solemn progress to 
the Lateran, and on the following day received an oath of 
allegiance from the praefect of the city, who had been before 
regarded as a vassal of the empire. He also put an end to 
the power of the republican commune which sat in the Capitol, 
by taking into his own hands the nomination of the senators, 
while he made all the princes of the sea-coast and the Sabine 
mountains acknowledge him as their master. Further, he 
confirmed his authority over the heritage of Countess Matilda 
of Tuscany, over the march of Ancona, the Romagna, and the 
duchy of Ravenna. He stretched out his hand to seize all 
the attributes of sovereignty, both ecclesiastical or lay, which 
the weakness of pope or emperor had left in the dust. He 
did more than Alexander III. had done ; he placed himself 
at the head of a Tuscan League, more powerful than the league 
of Lombard}', to which he also extended his protection, and 
received the homage of Perugia, Spoleto, Assisi, Foligno, and 
other towns, Pisa alone remaining devoted to the emperor. 
The child Frederick also received Sicily and innocent 
southern Italy from his hands, having to pay and Frede- 
a tribute of a thousand pieces of gold. Constance r i ck H. 
died on November 27, 1198, leaving her infant son to the 
guardianship of the pope, the archbishop of Palermo, and the 
ambitious chancellor, Walter of Troja, an arrangement which 
was deeply resented by the Normans of Sicily and Apulia. 
The pope first intended to marry the child Frederick to the 
daughter of the king of Aragon, but the scheme was delayed. 
He provided his ward with a broad and generous education, 
and did his best to give effect to his remarkable natural gifts. 

In August 1209, Frederick, who was now fourteen, was 
declared of age, and was married to the sister of Peter of 
Aragon, not to the younger sister, Sanchia, who Frederick 
had at first been intended for him, but the elder, elected 
Constance, the widowed queen of Hungary, who Emperor. 
was ten years older than her husband. When Frederick began 
to reign in his own name few cities obeyed him, his barons 
retained their independence, and swarms of Saracens infested 
the mountains. But the boy was equal to the occasion. He 
now heard that he had been elected king in Germany, and 
determined to accept the offer. He sailed from Messina in 
March 1212, leaving his wife as regent for his little child 



366 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1190 to 

Henry, who had been crowned king of Sicily. Reaching Rome, 
he sailed from Ostia to Genoa, and, passing by Verona and 
Trent, crossed the Alps to Chnr, and reached Constance, the 
gates of which were opened him by the bishop. Every one 
was charmed by the refined and handsome youth of seventeen 
summers, by his generosity and the splendid memories of his 
race. He was solemnly elected German king at Frankfort, 
on December 9, and was crowned two years afterwards in 
the cathedral of Mainz, where his uncle Philip had been married 
fifteen years before. 

The struggle between Otto IV. and Frederick, the Guelf and 
the Ghibelline, was one of European importance. Otto had 
Struggle increased his power by marrying the daughter 
between °f the duke of Brabant, and he now showed that 

Frederick his courage and energy were unbroken. He 
an( * seized and imprisoned the archbishop of Masrde- 

rvii- TT7" - 1 - J. O 

burg, and laid waste the land of Thuringia, 
Saxony, and the Netherlands. An apparently small event 
brought about a European war. The duke of Brabant had 
attacked the bishop of Liege, who belonged to the Hohenstauffen 
party, and the altar of St. Lambert had been stained with 
blood. The bishop laid his ban upon the duke, and summoned 
counts and other feudal lords to his assistance. The kings 
of France and England took part in the conflict, and Frederick 
naturally helped his French ally. Otto commanded an army of 
100,000 men, mainly English and Netherlander, and burned to 
avenge himself on the French king, Philip Augustus, the rival 
of his uncles Richard and John of England. The struggle was 

decided on July 27, 1214, at the bridge of Bouvines, 
Eouvines situated between Tournay and Lille, by one of the 

decisive battles of the world, in which the French 
chivalry and the banner of the oriflamme gained a signal victory. 
The counts of Flanders and Boulogne and the earl of Salisbury 
were taken prisoners. Otto fled to Cologne, where he was sup- 
ported by the alms of England, his power being henceforth 
restricted to his paternal inheritance of Brunswick. Frederick 
extended his conquests over the lower Rhine and the Nether- 
lands, and even as far as Denmark, and on July 24, 1215, just 
a year after the battle, was crowned at Aachen by the archbishop 
of Mainz, acting as legate to the pope. Otto passed the remain- 
ing three years of his life at Brunswick, dying on May 10, 1218, 
and a year later his brother, the count palatine, purchased 
security for his own possessions by surrendering the insignia 



a.d. 1250] THE EMPIRE 367 

of the empire to Frederick, so that the Hohenstauffen was now 
without a rival. 

In 1216, Pope Innocent III. died, and was succeeded by 
Honorius III., of the house of Savelli. Before his death he re- 
cognised the mendicant orders of the Franciscans L as t Years 
and Dominicans, which were further established of Innocent 
by his successor, and to which were afterwards HI. 
added the Carmelites and the Augustinians. Innocent con- 
tinued in his passionate zeal for the recovery of the Holy 
Sepulchre to the end of his life, and he persuaded not only the 
youthful Frederick but the kings of Hungary and England to 
take the cross. Nor was he deterred by the terrible example of 
the Children's Crusade, which discredited the enterprise by a 
catastrophe of indescribable horror. About the year 1212, 
thousands of children, boys and girls, young men and young 
women, left France and Germany for the Holy Land, led by a 
few priests and monks. They took ship in the south of France, 
but came to a terrible end, — some dying of starvation and ex- 
haustion, many more being taken prisoners by sea or land and 
sold as slaves, very few surviving to reach their home. What 
is known as the fifth crusade took place in 1217, but produced 
no result. It was led by King Andrew II. of Hungary and 
Leopold VII. of Austria, and other German princes. John of 
Brienne, king of Jerusalem, and the legate Pelagius stormed 
Damietta, at the mouth of the Nile, in 1219, but soon had to 
surrender it. 

The coronation of Frederick in St. Peter's took place in 
November 23, 1220, amidst a large crowd of princes from both 
Germany and Italy. He received the cross from Frederick 
the bishop of Asti, as a sign that he was still crowned 
true to the vow of crusade which he had taken at a * Rome. 
Aachen. The catastrophe of Damietta followed next year. The 
news produced a feeling of dismay in Europe, such lofty hopes 
being followed by such a terrible disaster. Honorius was more 
anxious than ever for a crusade, and in March 1223 a congress 
was held at Florentino. Frederick solemnly promised in the 
presence of the pope, the king and patriarch of Jerusalem, and 
the Masters of the three great military orders, to sail for 
Syria on or before St. John's Day, 1225. He had lost his wife, 
Constance, in 1222, and it was now arranged that he should 
marry Iolanthe, the eldest daughter of John of Brienne, who 
had married Iolanthe of Montferrat, the heiress of Jerusalem. 
Frederick spent these two years in ordering the affairs of Apulia 



36$ A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1190 to 

and Sicily. He got rid of various nobles, exiling and confis- 
cating the property of the counts of Aqnila, Caserta, and San 
Severino. He pursued a similar policy in Sicily, making war 
against the Saracens in the mountains, hanging Ibn Abed and 
his sons, and transplanting his prisoners to Lucera in Apulia, 
where lie founded a military colony, which became in time 
devoted to his interests, and furnished for him a bodyguard of 
20,000 warriors, who remained faithful to the house of Hohen- 
stauffen until its extinction. But the pope did not approve of 
the Moslem cry of prayer being proclaimed in the mosques of 
Lucera or of the Koran being read in them. 

Meanwhile the preparations for the crusade went on. John 
of Brienne travelled through France and England, but could 
Prepara- nnc l no su PP or t : Philip Augustus and his suc- 
tions for cessor, Louis VIII., were occupied with the sup- 
a new pression of the Albigenses, and Henry III. was 

Crusade. a m i n0 r. Nor was he more successful in Castile. 

Frederick himself was full of zeal, but asked leave to defer the 
expedition, promising at San Germano that he would go to the 
Holy Land in August 1227, and remain there for two years, 
subject to a fine for failure of contract. If he did not fulfil 
these conditions he was to be excommunicated. He was now 
married to Iolanthe in Brindisi. He assumed the title of king 
of Jerusalem, which Iolanthe's father did not approve of, and 
bad feeling arose between the two families. Frederick spent 
the interval in confirming his authority in Sicily, assisted by 
his faithful adviser, Pietro delle Vigne, whose political success 
did not save him from being put into hell by Dante. But the 
increase of the emperor's power and authority, and his excellent 
government, only stimulated the jealousy of the pope. The 
Lombard League began to raise its head, and favoured the 
power of John of Brienne in Italy at the expense of Frederick. 

The virtuous Honorius III. died in March 1227, and was 
succeeded by Cardinal Ugolino Conti, of the family of Innocent 
III., who took the title of Gregory IX. He had 
Gregory IX been a staunch supporter of the Franciscans and 
the Dominicans, and, notwithstanding his advanced 
years, promised a vigorous reign. His first care was to exact 
from Frederick the fulfilment of the bond given at San Ger- 
mano to prepare for the crusade, which was to set out from 
Brindisi in August. A large number of crusaders were collected 
there, and Frederick exhibited great energy. But a terrible 
fever broke out in the heat of a Calabrian autumn. The sons 



a.d. 1250] THE EMPIRE 369 

of the north melted like snow under the rays of the southern 
sun. Frederick did indeed despatch 40,000 pilgrims by sea, and 
followed himself on September 8, accompanied T ne 
by the landgrave of Thuringia, the husband of Crusade 
the sainted Elizabeth ; but an attack of fever com- abandoned, 
pelled them both to return, and three days after his landing the 
landgrave was a corpse. The doctor insisted upon Frederick's 
renouncing the expedition, and going to be cured in the baths 
of Pozzuoli. This broke up the expedition. The fleet returned, 
and the crusaders dispersed. 

The pope was beside himself with wrath. Without waiting 
for explanations, he pronounced at Anagni a decree of ex- 
communication against the emperor. This was Frederick 
the beginning of a new policy for the papacy, excom- 
which set itself to uproot the authority of the municated. 
Hohenstauffens. Gregory issued a circular to the bishops defend- 
ing his action. Frederick's explanations were not listened to, 
although he promised to sail for the Holy Land in May. 
The ban was renewed on November 17, and it was declared 
that the landgrave had died of poison. Frederick replied 
to the attack with characteristic nobility. In a manifesto to 
the king of England, he described the dangers to be appre- 
hended from the increasing power of the hierarchy and the 
restless policy of the pope. He cited the examples of the 
count of Toiilouse and of King John of England, drawing 
a moving picture of the demoralisation of the church, and 
contrasting it with the purity and simplicity of the early 
Christians. Gregory put all the places in which Frederick 
might reside under an interdict, so that divine service could 
not be performed in them, and few of the clergy dared to 
disobey. But Frederick had supporters in Rome, of whom the 
Frangipani were the leaders, and the Ghibellines were in fact 
so strong that, when Gregory renewed the ban on Maundy 
Thursday, the citizens rose against him and compelled him to 
withdraw to Viterbo. 

Frederick continued his preparations for the crusade with- 
out troubling himself about the action of the pope, who could 
hardly prevent an enterprise which the papacy Frederick 
had always declared to be of the greatest import- starts for 
ance to Christianity. While keeping his Easter Palestine. 
at Barletta, he heard of the death of Almuazzam of Damascus, 
who had been the bitterest enemy of the Christians. A 
postponement was caused by the death of the Empress Iolanthe 

2 A 



370 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1190 to 

in giving birth to her son Conrad, but Frederick started on 
June 28, under the ban of the Holy Father, so that a 
Mohammedan said that he sailed for Jerusalem not as a crusader 
but as a pirate. After a visit to Cyprus, he reached Ascalon 
on September 7, and was well received by the Knights Tem- 
plars and the Knights of Saint John. But they refused to 
give him the kiss of peace or to dine with him, because he 
was excommunicated ; indeed, the action of the pope soon 
began to produce its effect. The clergy denounced him, the 
military orders refused their obedience. The Venetians 
wavered, and the sultan of Egypt hesitated to confirm the treaty 
for the surrender of the holy places, which he had already 
agreed to. 

Frederick was preparing to march to Joppa when two 

Franciscan friars came to Ptolemais, telling the patriarch and 

the heads of the religious orders that they were 

Frederick in to • e p rec l er i c k n0 assistance. Frederick had, 

Palestine. ^ • • i 4.1 ±i. *. 

on his arrival, sent a message to the pope that 

he would not return until he had won Jerusalem back for 
Christianity, but the pope was more anxious for the destruction 
of the Hohenstauffen than he was for the recovery of the 
Holy Sepulchre. The consequence was that the patriarch 
and the heads of the orders refused to assist him unless he 
left his own name out of the expedition, to which he mag- 
nanimously assented. Sultan Al Kamil, who was in camp a 
day's journey from Joppa, had conceived a great admiration 

for Frederick's splendid qualities and a corre- 
?h e ^, ty 1 ^ ritl1 sponding contempt for those who were endeavouring 

to destroy him. Therefore in February 18, 1221, 
he made an agreement with him by which the mosque of 
Omar should remain in the possession of the Moslems, while 
the rest of Jerusalem, with Bethlehem and Nazareth Jand the 
coast from Joppa to Sidon, should be surrendered to the 
Christians. The patriarch bitterly opposed this statesman- 
like arrangement, which had been made, he said, without his 
knowledge. He wrote to the pope that Frederick was at 
heart a heathen and a Mohammedan, that he led an un- 
christian life with singing and dancing women, whom he had 
received from the unbelievers, and that his bodyguard was 
formed of Saracens. Frederick paid no attention to this ; he 
entered Jerusalem with the acclamation of the Christian popula- 
tion, visited the Holy Sepulchre as catholic emperor on March 
18, 1229, dressed in the imperial robes, and, taking the crown 



a.d. 12501 THE EMPIRE 371 

of Jerusalem from the altar, placed it on his head. The 
patriarch answered this by laying Jerusalem and the Holy 
Sepulchre under an interdict, so that no religious service could 
be held there so long as Frederick remained ; therefore, after 
two clays, he left the Holy City and withdrew to Joppa and 
Acre. 

The quarrel now assumed the character of a civil war. 
The pope wished to obtain the consent of the king of France 
to raise an army for recovering the Holy Land, 
which would have broken the treaty between Frederick. 
Frederick and Al Kamil. Frederick ordered the 
crusaders to leave the Holy Land, as the object of the expedi- 
tion was now fully accomplished, and on Palm Sunday went 
so far as to pull down some of the friars from the pulpit 
and flog them through the streets. On May 1, 1229, after 
entrusting the kingdom to the care of the bailiff of Sidon, he 
went quietly on board ship, and sailed for Italy by way of 
Cyprus. He found that, in his absence, Gregory had released 
his Apulian subjects from their allegiance, and had excommuni- 
cated his friends. He had also used the money collected 
for the recovery of Jerusalem to conduct a crusade against 
Frederick, and had enlisted crusaders for this 
purpose. He had stirred up Frederick's enemies, th^Kevs 
Thomas of Celano, Roger of Aquila, John of 
Brienne, Cardinal Colonna, and the papal chaplain, Pandulf 
of Anagni, to attack Rainald of Spoleto, whom the emperor 
had left behind as viceroy. The villages of the plain were 
devastated by civil war, and Benevento was conquered. The 
" Army of the Keys," as it was called, marched into the 
Romagna, and stirred up strife between the Guelfs and Ghibel- 
lines in northern Italy. Florence, Ravenna, and Imola fought 
against Modena, Parma, and Cremona. The Milanese attacked 
the count of Savoy ; Rainald with difficulty protected Sulmona ; 
John of Brienne blockaded the coast, hoping to destroy Frederick 
and to recover the crown of Jerusalem for himself. It was 
reported that Frederick was a prisoner or dead when suddenly, 
to the consternation of his enemies, he arrived at Brindisi. 
The pope soon found that his army melted away from him, but 
he would hear nothing of peace, and met Frederick's offers 
by a fresh ban. Frederick, however, was too strong for him, 
and advanced from victory to victory. Louis IX. of France 
remained neutral, and by the autumn he had recovered all 
his possessions with the exception of Gaeta, and the way to 



372 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. lino to 

Homo lay open to him. On July 23, 1230, a peace be- 
tween the emperor and the pope was concluded at San 
Treaty Germano, by which the pope should keep his 

of San temporal possessions and Frederick should be 

Germano. released from the ban. The two enemies signed 
the treaty at Anagni, and Gregory called the emperor his 
beloved son. 

After the treaty of San Germano, Frederick set to work 

to organise his kingdom. In Sicily, he changed the feudal 

Frederick's state into a centralised bureaucratic government. 

Imperial In Germany, he exalted the royal power over 

Policy. the freedom of the towns, but left much authority 

in the hands of the nobles. In northern Italy, he pursued a 

similar policy, and increased everywhere the power of the local 

laws over the democratic government of the cities. The emperor 

was the head over everything. But the church was opposed 

to him, and became, from this time, the assertor of freedom. 

The connection of Frederick with Germany was fatal to his 

plans. If he could have been king of Italy without being 

king of Germany, the unity of the peninsula might have been 

consummated six hundred years before it was eventually brought 

about. 

The treaty of San Germano was followed by five years of 
peaceful government, and was a great benefit for Christianity. 
Adminis- Gregory ratified the treaty which Frederick had 
tration of made with Al Kamil, and the kingdom of J erusalem 
Sicily and was left in peace, Christians having free access to 
Italy. the holy places. With the help of Pietro delle 

Vigne, Frederick elaborated a fresh constitution for Sicily, 
and gave it the character of a modern state. He committed 
justice to four great judges, with a Grand Justiciar at their 
head. He did away with ordeal and judicial combat, and brought 
order into harmony with ideas of progress. For administration 
he created an enlightened bureaucracy. He favoured the 
development of agriculture, of commerce, and of the army and 
fleet. He applied the soundest principles to the collection of 
taxes, although the circumstances of the times did not favour 
the introduction of free trade or the prohibition of monopolies. 
The huge revenue which he derived from Germany and Italy 
enabled him to maintain a brilliant court which would vie 
witli any contemporary court in splendour. His palaces were 
full of beautiful women, and he gave much attention to poetry, 
encouraging troubadours and minnesingers. The universities 



a.d. 1250] THE EMPIRE 373 

which he established in Naples and Palermo vied in reputa- 
tion with the schools of Paris and Bologna, Damascus, Bagdad, 
and Cairo. No emperor had had such large . 
possessions in gold and silver since the days 
of Charles the Great. But in his later years he became ex- 
travagant, and his government became oppressive to the people. 
Revolts arose and were sternly suppressed, not without shedding 
of blood. But long after Frederick's death Pope Clement IV. 
held up the government of the great Hohenstauffen as a model 
to Charles of Anjou. The country over which he ruled is 
still full of his works — his cathedrals, his castles, 
and his palaces, original in style, unrivalled in f-rcnitec- 
beauty, deserving far greater study and attention 
than they have received. They raise Italian Gothic to a worthy 
rivalry with her northern sister. Nothing can be more beautiful 
than the churches of Aquila and Tagliacozzo, with their twisted 
columns inlaid with mosaics and their blight and cheery 
interior. The castle of Alba is a masterpiece of strength and 
majesty; his palaces both in Italy and Sicily join to the 
exuberance of Eastern decoration the refinement of Italian 
taste. 

Even if Frederick had desired to separate Germany and Italy, 
he could not have clone so, and he kept before his eyes the ideal 
of an empire extending from the Baltic to the sea Tk e 
of Sicily, to hold the world in peace and obedience. Lombard 
He cultivated good relations with the Curia, and League. 
tried with its help to destroy the rebellious Lombards, who 
had not only renewed their league but had extended it by the 
addition of Mantua, Brescia, Ferrara, Vicenza, Padua, and 
Verona. In March 1232, he met his son Henry (VII.) at Aquila, 
and did his best to establish an enduring system of peace 
with his dominions on either side of the Alps. Henry was not 
an obedient son, and bore with impatience the 
subjection which his father naturally laid upon Frederick 
him. With the help of his brother-in-law, Duke 
Frederick of Austria, he endeavoured to strengthen his power 
by violent means, threatened Otto the Illustrious of Bavaria 
with war, and took his son Louis, a child of five years, as hostage. 
He destroyed the castles of recalcitrant vassals, who complained 
to the emperor, and attacked the margrave of Baden, whom he 
suspected of being too much devoted to his father. When 
Frederick heard of this, he was very wroth, and insisted on the 
hostages being restored. Henry was forced to submit, because 



374 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1190 to 

Frederick was at this time on better terms than ever with the pope. 
In this manner Frederick secured the adhesion of the German 
princes to help him against the towns, and, pursuing a similar 
policy, he made an alliance with Ezzelino da Romano, a blood- 
thirsty and cruel tyrant, who might help him against the 
Lombard League. In 1224, a popular outbreak took place in 
Rome which compelled the pope and the cardinals to take 
refuge in Rieti, from which Gregory fulminated his ecclesiastical 
curses. The Romans plundered the palaces of the fugitives, and 
under their municipal banner attacked Velletri and Viterbo and 
threatened the patrimony of Saint Peter. There seemed a 
danger lest the work of Innocent III. should be undone. But 
the emperor assisted the pope in his time of need, and in May 
1235 compelled the rebels to make peace. 

The unfilial conduct of Henry (VII.) led his father to consider 
the advisability of recognising his son Conrad as heir to the 
German crown, and Henry in his turn determined to revolt. It 
cannot be denied that Frederick paid less attention to Germany 
than to Italy, and there was much to be said for the separation 
of the two countries, as we have before remarked ; but it was not 
in Frederick's nature to consent to this partition, and Henry, 
with his Aveak and sensual character, was not the man to bring 
it about. Henry found himself deserted by those that he ex- 
pected to assist him, and in 1235 Frederick made an expedition 
into Germany, accompanied by his son Conrad, who bore the 
title of King of Jerusalem, and by his faithful councillor 
Hermann of Salza. Henry saw the uselessness of resistance, and 
submitted to his father. A diet was held at Worms on July 4, 
and Henry hoped that he might be forgiven, but when he knew 
that his father was determined to put his half-brother in his 
place he took refuge in his castle of Trifels, where he had 
possession of the royal insignia, and claimed the assistance of 
his friends in Germany and of the Lombard League. His plot 
was discovered, and he was arrested and imprisoned in the castle 
of Worms, which bore the picturesque name of Luginsland, from 
which he was removed to Heidelberg and placed in the custody 
of his bitter enemy, Otto of Bavaria. As he refused to submit, 
and his presence in Germany was thought dangerous, he was 
carried in the following year across the Alps. Frederick of 
Austria and the Lombards attempted to set him free, but without 
success. He was brought first to Aquila, and then to different 
fortresses in southern Italy, where he was kept in strict con- 
finement, and, after seven years of captivity, died without sub- 



a.d. 1250] THE EMPIRE 375 

mission and without repentance. Frederick heard of his death 
with great sorrow. His wife Margaret returned to Germany, 
and went into a nunnery at Wiirzburg, dying in 1267. The fate 
of his two sons need not detain us. 

In the same year 1235 Frederick was married to his third 
wife, Isabella, a sister of Henry III. of England. The negotiations 
for the marriage were conducted by Pietro delle Frederick's 
Vigne, and the archbishop of Cologne and the duke third 
of Brabant conducted the bride from England. She Marriage, 
made her last prayer in her own country at the shrine of St. 
Thomas of Canterbury. She was received at Cologne with great 
splendour, and stayed there six weeks, until the emperor was 
ready to receive her. At the marriage, which was celebrated at 
Worms, there were present four kings, eleven dukes, thirty 
counts and marquises, and the ceremony was continued for four 
days. The bride and bridegroom then went to Mainz to attend 
the diet that was held there on August 15, to provide for the 
permanent settlement of the empire. Peace was made between 
the houses of Waibling and Guelf, Otto of Liineburg being made 
duke of Brunswick. Those that had supported Henry in his 
rebellion were forgiven, and the Diet of Mainz was perhaps the 
culminating point of Frederick's career. It was, however, 
necessary to settle matters with the Lombards, and, before he 
began this work, Frederick took care to have his son Conrad 
chosen king of Germany and crowned. On November 27, 1237, 
with the assistance of Ezzelino, he defeated the Battle of 
Lombards at Cortenuova, winning a complete Corte- 
victory, and capturing the sacred Caroccio. The nuova. 
dead and the prisoners amounted to 10,000, and among the last 
was Vieri Tiepolo, podesta of Milan, son of the doge of Venice. 
He decorated the triumph of the emperor, being tied to the 
mast of the Caroccio, which was drawn by a white elephant. 
Even the pope sent his congratulations to the emperor. 

On Epiphany Day of 1238, Frederick entered the imperial 
city of Pavia in triumph, having the young counts Albert and 
Rudolf of Hapsburg in his train, and a few Renewed 
weeks later the Empress Isabella bore him a son. Disputes 
But the Lombards were not yet subdued. The with the 
siege of Brescia lasted from August to October 1 238, P°P e - 
and failed — a prelude to further misfortunes. The ancient 
sympathy of the pope for the Lombards began to revive. 
Indeed, he became jealous of Frederick's success, and feared 
lest he should lose his authority over central Italy and Sicily. 



376 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.». 1190 to 

The quarrel came to a head about Sardinia, the suzerainty of 
which the pope claimed for himself. After the death of Ubaldo 
Visconti, the lordship of the Sardinian districts of Torre and 
Galium came to his widow, who chose for her second husband 
Enzio, the handsome son of Frederick, now eighteen years of 
age, his father's living image, and dearer to him than his 
legitimate children. The pope strongly opposed this marriage, 
but the emperor insisted upon it, and invested his son, in 
feudal fashion, as vassal king of Sardinia under the imperial 
suzerainty. Gregory, therefore, encouraged by Frederick's 
failure at Brescia, made an alliance with Genoa and Venice 
to assist the Milanese in their struggle, and if possible to rouse 
the whole of Italy against the dreaded emperor. 

On Palm Sunday, 1239, the aged pope pronounced for a second 
time his ban against Frederick, " giving his body to Satan that 
Frederick n * s sou ^ m i8^ ^ e saved." His sons were released 
again from their allegiance, and any place where he 

Excom- might reside was held accursed. On the very day 

municated. on w hi c h this curse was pronounced, his faithful 
companion and friend, Hermann of Salza, who had spent his life 
in efforts to maintain peace between the pope and the emperor, 
died. He sought the aid of the doctors of Salerno in vain — they 
were unable to save him. The cause of the quarrel with the 
pope was not religious, but political. The pope was possessed 
by the principles of papal government which had first been set 
forth by Hildebrand and afterwards extended and developed 
by Innocent III. The papacy was to possess spiritual authority 
over the whole Christian world and temporal authority over 
Italy. Of this hegemony the temporal possessions of the church 
were to form the solid basis : southern Italy and Sicily were to 
recognise the pope as their suzerain, Umbria and Tuscany were 
to acknowledge his supremacy, and the republican communes of 
the north were to be united with him by ties of friendship, so 
that Italy was to become a federated nation under the head- 
ship of the pope. The principles held by Frederick, and the 
action that he took in consequence of them, were entirely 
opposed to these ideas. He had founded an independent 
kingdom of Sicily ; he was in constant intercourse with the 
Ghibellines of Rome ; he Avas opposed to the independence of 
Lombardy ; and he was endeavouring to extend his influence over 
Tuscany and Umbria, so that even the inheritance of Countess 
Matilda did not seem to be safe. These differences were brought 
into strong light by the creation of the kingdom of Sardinia. 



ad. 1250] THE EMPIRE 377 

The action of the pope led to a bitter civil war. The excom- 
munication did not at first have any effect in Germany, but 
means were soon found to rouse feelings against 
Frederick. Frederick of Austria seized the ^Twar 
opportunity of making himself independent ; Otto 
the Illustrious, duke of Bavaria, and the Count Palatine, hitherto 
a firm supporter of the Hohenstauffens, were won over to the 
side of the pope. King Wenzel of Bohemia took the same line, 
but his people remained faithful to the emperor, and for the 
moment Germany stood firm in her national feeling against Italy. 
Matters went differently in Italy. In the north, Azzo of Este 
was the first to renounce his allegiance, but he was followed 
by many others. A bitter party war raged from the outskirts 
of Messina, carried on not only by the sword but by speech and 
writing. Yet the pope did not succeed in raising a rival to 
Frederick, nor was Frederick capable of making an antipope. 
On the Guelf side were the important cities of Milan and 
Bologna, supported by Venice and Genoa, by Azzo of Este, by 
Alberic of Romano, who had quarrelled with his brother 
Ezzelino, and by most of the Umbrian and Tuscan towns. On 
the side of the Ghibellines were Mantua, Parma, Modena, 
Cremona, and Reggio, with Ezzelino of Romano, Salinguerra of 
Ferrara, the marquis of Montferrat, and above all the bastard 
Enzio, who was made viceroy of Italy. Sicily was retained in 
her allegiance by the force of an iron hand. 

In the autumn Frederick invaded the Milanese with a motley 
force of Italians and Saracens, but could not do much, and had 
to retire to Cremona. At the end of the year Frederick 
he crossed the Apennines, kept his Christmas in threatens 
the friendly Pisa, and marched into the states Rome. 
of the church ; the Frangipani, the leaders of the Ghibellines, 
cried : " The emperor has come to take possession of his capital ! " 
The pope replied to this by organising a large procession which 
passed from the Lateran to St. Peter's, bearing the holy relics 
of the Passion and the heads of the two apostles ; he placed the 
relics on the high altar of the basilica, and, taking the tiara 
from his head, crowned them with it with the words, " May the 
saints protect the city which the Romans are willing to 
destroy ! " The populace was seized with enthusiasm, and 
assumed the cross, as crusaders against the enemies of the 
church. The emperor was prevented from attacking Rome by 
want of money, and after spending some time at Viterbo he 
went to Foggia, where he hoped to obtain supplies from his 



378 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1190 to 

parliament. In the .summer of 1240 he occupied the march of 
Ancona, but left the Campagna alone. He now heard of the 
defection of Ferrara, where Salinguerra, Ezzelino's brother-in- 
law, who had been favourable to him, was attacked by Azzo of 
Este and carried off to Venice. The brutal Ezzelino exacted 
terrible vengeance from the Guelfs. In August, Frederick 
attacked Faenza, which fell in April 1241. Gregory had 
summoned a general council to Rome to decide the emperor's 
fate, and in April a large number of prelates from France, Spain, 
England, and northern Italy met in Genoa, with the intention 

of sailing to Astura. Twenty-seven galleys full 
Meloria °^ ecc h?siastics set sail on April 25, but they 

were intercepted by the imperial fleet, led by 
King Enzio, which, on May 11, fought the battle of Meloria, 
and entirely destroyed the Genoese fleet. All but four of the 
galleys were either sunk or captured ; two thousand men were 
drowned, amongst whom was the archbishop of Besancon ; 
and over a hundred prelates, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, 
abbots, three papal legates, the representatives of the Lombard 
League, and 4000 citizens of Genoa were taken first to Pisa, 
and then by a three weeks' voyage to Naples and Melfi, suffer- 
ing meanwhile from heat, hunger, and thirst, and the insults of 
the sailors. A rich booty fell into the hands of the conquerors. 
Thus the projected council came to an end, but the spirit of 
Gregory was not broken. 

Frederick was determined to march upon Rome, where 
Cardinal John Colonna was head of the Ghibelline party, and 

reached Spoleto in June. Here he received bad 

offersPeaee. news from German y> Ki »8" ^ela of Hungary 
begging for his assistance against the invading 
Tartars. Frederick endeavoured to make peace with the 
pope, and sent his brother-in-law, Richard of Cornwall, to 
Rome for that purpose. But Gregory would be content with 
nothing short of unconditional surrender. Frederick hesitated 
no longer : he marched by way of Terni and Narni to Tivoli, 
and in August 1241 encamped at Grotta Ferrata in sight of 
Rome. He stormed the monastery of Farfa, and laid waste 
the country with fire and sword. In Rome a civil war was 
raging between the Orsini, who favoured the pope, 

Death of an( j y^ Colonna, who supported the emperor, 

regory . , Q ar( jj na j j h n Colonna having joined Frederick's 

army. Just at this time, on August 21, 1241, Gregory IX. died 

in the Lateran, nearly a- hundred years old, but full of vigour. 



a.d. 1250] THE EMPIRE 379 

The cardinals met to choose a new pope in the Septizonium, two 
of Frederick's prisoners being allowed to come to Rome for the 
conclave, and after a long discussion they chose as pontiff the 
Milanese Godfrey, bishop of Sabina, a man of learning and 
character, who took the name of Celestine IV., but died before he 
could be consecrated. The civil war in Rome between the Orsini 
and Colonna now raged more violently than ever. Frederick 
wandered about the country to the south of Rome, wasting 
the lands of his enemies with his Saracen troops. He had 
both private and public anxieties. His beautiful wife Isabella 
died on December 1, 1241, and on February 2, 1242, his son 
Henry (VII.), whom he had always loved, also met his end, and 
he mourned for him as David mourned for Absalom. The 
emperor did his best to hasten the election, but a new pope 
was not chosen till June 24, 1243 — Sinibaldi Fieschi, a Genoese, 
who took the title of Innocent IV., an ominous name. Frederick 
said when he heard of the election that he was afraid that he 
had lost an old friend as cardinal and acquired a new enemy 
as pope, for no pope could love a Ghibelline. 

The emperor suffered a heavy blow by the loss of Viterbo, 
which went over to the side of the Guelfs, and this calamity 
was followed by others. Vercelli shut her gates to 
King Enzio ; Alessandra, Novara, Montferrat, and j Vq^I * t V 
Malaspina passed to the side of the pope. The 
Romans supported him, and attacked the Ghibelline castles in 
the states of the church ; but at the same time negotiations went 
on because Innocent was anxious to throw the blame of the rup- 
ture on Frederick. Preliminaries of peace were signed on March 
31, 1244, containing hard conditions to which the pope expected 
that Frederick would object. But the emperor accepted them, 
and Innocent was forced to adopt some other pretext for the 
continuation of the war. At last, in order to secure complete 
freedom of action, he fled to his relations in Genoa. The world 
now considered him as a persecuted martyr, and the emperor as 
an overbearing tyrant. The pope summoned a council at 
Lyons, and on April 13, 1245, issued a new bull Third Bull 
of excommunication against the emperor and King of Excom- 
Enzio. The patriarch of Antioch offered his munication. 
mediation, which was neither refused nor accepted, and negotia- 
tions went on. Frederick, accompanied by his son Conrad and 
a few south German bishops and princes, went to Turin to be 
near the scene of action. Innocent saw that no time was to be 
lost, and, without waiting for the emperor's ambassadors, in the 



380 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.b. H90to 

third meeting of the council, on July 17, issued a decree accusing 
the emperor of perjury, of heresy, and of intercourse with Moham- 
medans, depriving him of his crown and kingdom, releasing all 
his subjects from their allegiance, taking Sicily to himself, and 
calling upon the German princes to elect a new emperor. 
Thaddeus of Suessa, the emperor's representative, when he 
heard the decree, cried, " This is the day of wrath, of mourning 
and desolation, over which the enemies of Christ will rejoice." 
The pope replied, " I have done what I was obliged to do : may 
God complete it according to His will ! " The prelates then 
solemnly extinguished their burning torches. 

In this manner, an Italian pope, with 150 French and German 
prelates, had deprived of his crown and empire the most power- 
ful sovereign of the West, an action that filled all Christendom 
with astonishment and dismay. When Frederick heard of it, 
he said : " Has the pope robbed me of my crown ? Bring me my 
crown that I may see if it is really lost ! " He then placed it on 
his head and cried, "Now I have my crown, and no pope or 
council shall rob me of it without a struggle ! " A bitter contest 
took place between Guelfs and Ghibellines. A conspiracy was 
formed against Frederick's life, which he put down, exacting 
vengeance with great cruelty. In Germany, in accordance with 
Election the order of the pope, on May 22, 1246, Henry 

of Rival Raspe, landgrave of Thuringia, was elected German 

Emperors. king, and a battle took place between him and 
Conrad, in which the Hohenstauffen was defeated by treachery ; 
but Raspe died on February 27, 1247, and the male line of his 
race became extinct. William of Holland, a chivalrous young 
man of twenty, was elected in his place, Pope Innocent assist- 
ing him with money and support. In Italy the important 
city of Parma joined the pope's side, on which Frederick built, 
close by, a city of wooden houses with streets, market-place and 
gates, mills and places of worship, where his troops might winter 
until the rebellious city was captured. Sure of success, he named 
the new city Vittoria, and coined in it money called Vittorini. 
But on February 18, 1248, while the emperor was out hunting, 
the people of Parma attacked it, tore down the palisades, 
burned the wooden houses, and killed Thaddeus of Suessa. 
Fifteen hundred men were killed, and three thousand were 
taken prisoners. The emperor, on his return from the chase, 
found the city of Vittoria destroyed, his army routed, his seal 
of state, his jewelled crown, and the imperial treasure carried 
off, and the whole of his court captured, including his harem. 



A.n. 1250] THE EMPIRE 381 

He himself mounted his fleetest horse called the Dragon, and 
so escaped. 

After this catastrophe disaster followed upon disaster. His 
prime minister, Pietro delle Vigne, being accused of treachery 
and conspiracy against the emperor's life, was 
blinded and exiled. Shortly after this his darling EJSyKm 
son Enzio was taken prisoner in a skirmish at 
Fossato, near Modena, by the Milanese, who obstinately refused 
to set him at liberty. After this, fortune seemed to be more 
favourable to him, and in the last month of 1250 he made prepara- 
tions for attacking the states of the church with his accustomed 
energy ; but death seized him suddenly at Fiorentino, close by 
Lucera. Clad in the robe of a Cistercian monk, and absolved 
by the archbishop of Palermo, he died in the arms of his son 
Manfred, in the fifty-sixth year of his age and the thirty-fifth of 
his reign. 

He was so great in life that no one would believe that he had 
really gone for ever. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFFEN, A.D. 1250-1 2G8— NAPLES 
AND SICILY, A.D. 1268-1301— END OF THE CRUSADES. 

The news of Frederick's death was received with great joy by 

the papal court. Innocent IV. expressed his delight in no 

~ ,. . measured language, and looked forward to the 

Continued .. , & ° ' p ., p TT1 ~. 

War entire destruction of the race or Hohenstauffen. 

between The enemies of the imperial house were urged on 

Guelphsand by the mendicant orders. In Germany, Conrad 
Ghibellines. wag denounced as a son of Herod ; in Italy, the 
Frangipani now put themselves at the head of the papal 
party ; quarrels between Guelphs and Ghibellines were rife in 
every city. Civil war raged from the Rhine and the Danube 
to the southernmost promontory of Sicily. After acknowledging 
William of Holland as king of Germany, and giving him hopes 
of the imperial crown, Innocent left Germany a prey to destruc- 
tion, and returned to Rome in a triumphal procession. But it 
was easy to see from the strength of the opposition that it was 
hopeless for him to attempt to revive the authority of Innocent 
III. He hoped to recover his power over the kingdom of the 
two Sicilies, but here he was met by Manfred, a natural son 
of Frederick, who was acting as the viceroy of his half-brother, 
Conrad IV. Manfred, now eighteen years old, and one of the 
most picturesque figures in history, immortalised by Dante, 
beautiful, brave, and chivalrous, clever, cultivated, and generous, 
drew the hearts of all to his allegiance. 

The pope reached Rome by way of Bologna, where Enzio was 

imprisoned, and ordered Manfred to surrender all the castles in 

his possession, offering him Taranto as a papal 

M a n nfred and fief " Manfred refused, and called Conrad to his 

counsels. Conrad crossed the Alps and reached 

Verona, where he met the faithful ally of the empire, Ezzelino 

da Romano, a monster of cruelty, whose excesses offended even 

the seared consciences of that blood-stained age. Conrad, sailing 

from Pola, landed at Siponto, afterwards called Manfredonia, 



A.P. 12S0-12A8] FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFFEN 383 

where he was met by Manfred, whom he treated with great 
honour. But, under the influence of Pietro Buffo, a minister of 
humble birth, the emperor of twenty-four gradually became 
jealous of the viceroy of eighteen, who surpassed him in 
brilliancy and popularity. Yet the generous and open-hearted 
Manfred assisted him in all his enterprises, reduced the towns 
of Apulia, and helped him to conquer Naples, which he entered 
in triumph on October 1, 1253. 

Innocent intended to oppose to Conrad, as king of the two 
Sicilies, Henry, the son of Isabella of England, then seventeen 
years old, to whom his brother Manfred had 
already committed the government of Sicily. But j nn0 gg n ^ iv 
he died suddenly in December 1253, and was 
soon after followed to the grave by Frederick, the son of the 
unhappy Henry (VII.), so that the only legitimate heirs of the 
great Frederick were his son Conrad and his grandson Conradin , 
whom the Bavarian Elizabeth had borne to Conrad during 
his absence in Italy. During the siege of Naples, Innocent 
had offered the Neapolitan crown to Charles of Anjou, brother 
of Louis IX., and to Bichard of Cornwall, brother of Henry 
III., both of whom refused. But in 1255 Henry accepted 
it for his younger son Edmund, the chief result 
being to give the Pope an excuse for demanding Conrad 
large sums from England, and to increase Henry's 
embarrassments. Meanwhile, on May 21, 1254, Conrad died 
suddenly at Bavello, near Melfi, leaving as his heir a baby 
of two years old in the mountains of Bavaria. The fate of the 
rival king, William of Holland, need not detain us. He had 
no real power, and under his weak rule the disruptive forces 
which always existed in Germany had full play. On January 
28, 1256, mounted on a heavy horse and clad in full armour, 
though more accustomed to walk barefooted to church in a 
woollen robe, he rode across the ice to attack the Frisians. 
His horse broke through the ice, and he was killed by the 
peasants, and buried under the doorstep of a house in Hoog- 
woude ; but in 1282 his bones were removed by his son 
Frederick to a monastery in Middelburg. 

Innocent was not less delighted at the death of Conrad than 
he had been when Frederick perished. After the emperor 
had been buried in the cathedral of Messina, Manfred went 
with an embassy to the pope at Anagni, to ask for the re- 
cognition of the child Conradin as successor to his father. 
Instead of taking the opportunity of securing the power of the 



384 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1250 to 

church by accepting the guardianship of the infant whom his 

father had left to his care, Innocent excommunicated Manfred 

and all the most powerful Hohenstauffens, and 

Con n radi d n and sent lli,s lie P hew > Cardinal William Fieschi, as 

legate to Sicily, with orders to seize it for the 
Holy See. The Ghibellines were driven to resistance, and had 
no alternative but to place Manfred at their head. Once 
more Manfred offered peace, but the pope met him with 
duplicity, proposing to make him prince of Taranto and 
count of Andria, and to recognise Conradin as duke of Swabia 
and king of Jerusalem, when he had already given Taranto 
to the Frangipani, and Sicily to the English Edmund. The 
pope now left Anagni with a crowd of fugitive Guelphs and 
entered Apulia at Ceprano. Manfred held his stirrup as he 
crossed the bridge over the Garigliano, and on October 27, 
1254, he entered Naples. Nobles came to take the oath of 
allegiance, but there was no mention of the rights of Conradin. 
Manfred saw that he was surrounded by treachery and intrigue, 
and fled for his life through the mountains to Lucera, where he 
found the protection of his faithful Saracens, and an abundant 
treasure. He attacked the papal troops, and drove Cardinal 

William back to Naples, where he heard that his 
I Ga °t IV mas ^ er ; Innocent, was dead. The pope, with his 

heart broken by the defeats of Foggia and Troja, 
died on December 7, 1254, in the palace of Pietro delle Yigae. 
He was a man of ability, energy, and ambition, but was devoid 
of piety and of elevation of character. He was a bitter partisan, 
and deserves neither our respect nor our admiration. 

After nine days, a new pope was elected, the bishop of Ostia 
and Velletri, of the house of Conti, a nephew of Gregory IX., 

and in three weeks he was consecrated under the 
Alexander title of Alexander IV . He continued the old 

policy, but not with the same success. The 
growth of Manfred's power compelled him to leave Naples, 
and to retire first to Anagni and then to Rome. There the 
rising of the Roman people, who were anxious to recall their 
hero, Brancaleone, the avenger of wrong, the friend of the 
law, the protector of the people, from Bologna, drove him to 
seek refuge in Viterbo, where he remained for the rest of 
his life. Manfred occupied first Naples and then Sicily. The 
pope was obliged to give up his political plans, as the English 
would not allow Henry III. to incur the expense of making 
his son Edmund king of Sicily or his brother Richard emperor 



ad. 1268] FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFFEN 385 

of Germany. The year 1259, which we have now reached, 
saw the end of the monster Ezzelino da Romano. Age only 
stimulated his evil qualities : the ban of two popes Death of 
hardened his resolution. We can only suppose Ezzelino da 
that he was mad, and it was a sign of the times Romano. 
that a madman should be allowed to rage unfettered. Every- 
one who aroused his jealousy, stirred his anger, stimulated his 
passions, or stood in the way of his ambition, was so treated that 
the living envied the dead, and whole families of nobles were 
put to death. Race, riches, genius, and virtue were punished 
as crimes, and the streets of his dominions resounded with 
the groans of those who were being tortured with the rack. 
Padua and the Marches were as if stricken with the plague ; 
fugitives, if caught, were deprived of their arms and feet. At 
last he was defeated by his enemies at the bridge of Cassano, 
and imprisoned in the castle of Soncino. He sat there brooding 
over his misfortunes, refusing the ministration of religion, 
regretting only that he had not exacted a fuller vengeance from 
his enemies, till, at last, on December 7, 1259, he tore the 
bandages from his wounds and died. His brother Alberic 
suffered a worse fate. He was captured by his former friend, 
the marquis of Este, together with his wife Margaret, their 
six sons, and two lovely daughters. After seeing his family 
strangled before his eyes, he was torn to pieces by wild horses 
and his limbs were buried. The all-powerful house of Romano 
thus came to an end. 

In the following year, Manfred, hearing a false report that 
Conradin was dead, was crowned king of Sicily and Apulia 
in the cathedral of Palermo, on August 11, 1258. Manfred 
Elizabeth sent to tell him that Conradin was King of 
still alive, and to order him to lay aside his Sicily and 
crown and acknowledge his nephew ; but Manfred Apulia, 
replied that the southern nobles would never accept a northern 
sovereign, that Conradin should succeed him after his death, 
but that in the meantime the boy had better come to him 
and learn how to rule a southern population. Manfred governed 
with wisdom and success, and established a court in Palermo 
equal to that of his father in splendour and in the encourage- 
ment of art, literature, and science. He even thought of 
extending his rule over Epirus and Aetolia. But the pope in- 
sisted on Sicily being held as a papal fief and on the Saracens 
being sent back to Africa, and, when Manfred proudly refused 
to surrender his independence and summoned more Saracens 

2 B 



386 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1250 to 

to help him, excommunicated the recalcitrant sovereign as his 
predecessor had excommunicated his father. But the weapon 
had become blunt by indiscriminate usage, and the ban only 
stimulated Manfred to make himself sovereign of an inde- 
pendent and united Italy. Happily for him, Ezzelino was 
dead, and he made Palavicini, the bitter enemy of the monster, 
his lieutenant in Lombard) 7 . He made treaties with Venice 
and Genoa, and appointed a Doria of Venice his viceroy in 
Spoleto and the March. The Ghibelline Farinata degli Uberti 
had been driven out of Florence by the Guelfs and took refuge 
in Siena, from which the Florentines advanced to expel him. 
Manfred sent his German mercenaries to assist him, and on 
September 4, 1260, the Guelfs were entirely defeated in the battle 
of Montaperti on the Arbia, a conflict celebrated in the verse of 
Dante, who was born five years after it. The Guelf caroccio 
was captured, the exiled Ghibellines returned, and their ene- 
mies took refuge in Lucca. Florence and nearly the whole of 
Tuscany acknowledged Manfred as their lord. The Guelfs 
sent to Conradin for assistance, begging him to come to Italy, 
upon which he declared war against Manfred ; but Alexander 
IV. died at Viterbo on March 28, 1261 ; Florence, Siena, and 
Pisa formed themselves into a Ghibelline league with Manfred 
as their protector ; and Perugia and Umbria alone remained 
faithful to the Holy See. 

The Cardinals in Viterbo elected James Pantaleone, a 
French prelate of humble extraction, now patriarch of Jerusa- 
lem, to the Papal throne. He took the name of 
M°anfred Urban IV., and pursued the "viper brood" of 

the Hohenstauffen with as much passion as his 
predecessors. But Manfred stood at the height of his power. 
The excommunicated king reigned in splendour at Palermo ; his 
voice was more powerful than that of the Pope on the Tiber, 
the Arno, and the Po ; and Peter of Aragon was not prevented 
Urban IV. DV pious scruples from marrying Constance, the 
and Charles daughter of Manfred by his first marriage. Urban, 
ofAnjou. m despair, turned to his countryman, Charles 
of Anjou, the brother of St. Louis, the husband of Beatrice 
of Provence, whose three sisters had married sovereigns, and 
a treaty was signed between them in 1263. But Urban's satis- 
faction was diminished by Charles being elected by the Roman 
Guelfs as senator of Home for life. In the midst of these 
troubles, Urban IV., who had never set foot in Rome, died at 
Perugia on October 2, 1264, 



ad. 1268] FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFFEN 387 

In the conclave opinions were divided, but the French 
party finally won the clay, and Guido le Gros, of St. Gilles 
in Languedoc, a Provencal by birth, was consecrated pope in 
the cathedral of Perugia on February 22, 1265, with the title 
of Clement IV. He had lived long as a layman, 
but, on the death of his wife, had become a emen 
Carthusian, then bishop of Puy, archbishop of Narbonne, and 
cardinal of Santa Sabina. He was reluctant to receive the 
throne at his advanced age, but, being a personal friend of 
Charles and being promised the assistance of Louis IX., he 
consented, and inaugurated a crusade against Manfred " the 
usurper and the sultan." In April 1265, the year of Dante's 
birth, Charles sailed from the coast of Provence 
first to Pisa and then to Ostia, where, owing ^^1 &S in 
to the stormy weather, he landed in a small 
boat, and entered the Holy City on Whitsunday, May 23. 
The Romans of all classes — nobles, clergy, and people — received 
him with acclamation ; he was invested as senator in the 
Capitol on June 21, and seven days later was crowned in 
the Lateran as king of Sicily, receiving the kingdom as 
feudatory of the pope. On October 14, he founded a university 
in Rome as a memorial of his new reign. He had, however, 
come to Rome without money and without troops, to take the 
crown from the head of a rival who was well provided with 
both. He was forty-six years of age, — strong, tall, and dignified, 
— stern, dark, and terrifying. He never smiled, and slept but 
little. He was a hard man, stubborn, cruel, and ambitious. 
He was pitted against the paragon of chivalrous manhood, 
generous, affable, and cultured, an enemy to craft and passion. 
But when Clement IV. publicly announced that the Church 
had found in the count of Provence a champion against the 
poisonous brood of a dragon of poisonous race, and gave absolution 
to all those who should take the cross or assist the Church 
with money — when swarms of friars spread over the country, 
declaring it to be a Christian duty to attack the condemned 
heretic king of the Mohammedans — many answered to the 
summons. 

The French crusaders who crossed the Alps numbered 30,000 
men. Those who had fought on the side of the church against 
the Albigenses now turned their swords against The Crusade 
Manfred. In December 1265, the Provencals against 
reached Rome. On Epiphany Day, 1266, Charles Manfred, 
and his wife, Beatrice, were crowned in St. Peter's as king and 



388 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1250 to 

queen of Sicily. Manfred desired a reconciliation, but the pope 
answered, " Tell Manfred that the day of mercy is passed, the 
armed hero is at the door, the axe is laid at the root of the tree." 
The decisive battle took place on February 26, 1266, on the Field 
of Roses, north-west of Benevento. The battle 
Be eWo was one k&fc ween French and Germans. The 
German knights, amongst whom was Rudolf of 
Hapsburg, fought bravely, but the French killed their horses 
with their short swords, and, when the riders fell, knocked them 
on the head with their clubs. When the Apulians saw the 
Germans defeated, they ran away. The silver eagle fell from 
Manfred's helmet ; he recognised the token of disaster, and, say- 
ing, " All is lost," rode with Theobald Asinibaldi into the thick 
of the mel6e, and met the death he sought. His naked body, 
covered with wounds, a great gash on his forehead, was found 
two days later, and was buried at the head of the bridge of 
Benevento. As each French soldier passed by his grave with 
reverence, he cast a stone upon it, and raised a cairn, but the 
bishop of Consenza, Manfred's bitter foe, at the bidding of the 
pope, dug the body up, and threw it across the border, out of 
the dominions of the church, where it lay exposed to rain and 
wind. Even to-day the peasants of that solitary valley think 
of the young king, beautiful, gifted and unfortunate, dying at 
the age of thirty-three, heroic in his death as in his life. 

At this time, the crown of Germany was disputed between 
Richard of Cornwall, brother of Henry III., and Alfonso X. of 
The German Castile, known as the Wise. Money was the 
Inter- decisive factor in the choice. On January 13, 

regnum. 1257, Richard was elected king at Frankfort, and 

on April 1 Alfonso was elected to the same office at Trier. 
Richard was crowned at Cologne on May 17. This begins the 
period of the German Interregnum. Alfonso never visited his 
kingdom, Richard confined himself to spending money, and the 
English objected to the extravagance of the prince whom they 
called King of the Romans. Richard was German king for 
fifteen years, but exercised no influence over the country. 
After being imprisoned at home by the discontented barons, he 
visited Germany for the last time, and held a diet at Worms 
in March 1269. In June 1267 he had married, at the age of 
fifty-eight, the youthful Beatrice of Folkenstein, but died in 
1271, mourned chiefly by those who had fattened on his bounty. 
Whilst Germany was fc in this state of weakness and confu- 
sion, Ottokar of Bohemia was consolidating his dominions and 



a.d. 1268] FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFFEN 389 

endeavouring to extend them. He first attacked Bavaria, but 
was defeated in the battle of Muhldorf on August 25, 1257, 
and then turned his attention to Salzburg and 
Styria, and also fought against Hungary. He B ,° a . r ° 
gained the battle of the Marchfeld in 1260, which 
greatly increased his power. The struggle between Richard and 
Alfonso gave him hopes of obtaining the German throne, but, for 
the moment, he attached himself to Richard, and, on August 9, 
1262, appeared before him at Aachen, and asked to be invested 
with his Austrian dominions. He further strengthened his posi- 
tion by divorcing his wife, from whom he could expect no heir, 
and marrying a Hungarian princess in October 1261. He also 
made another war against Bavaria, and acquired Carinthia and 
Carniola in 1268 and 1269, so that at the beginning of the 
seventies he was the most powerful sovereign in Germany, and 
there was great likelihood that the crown of the Teutons would 
be placed on the head of a Slav when the death of Richard of 
Cornwall made a new election imminent. The peace of Press- 
burg, signed in July 1271, recognised Ottokar as lord of Styria, 
Carinthia, Carniola, and the Wendish mark, upon which Duke 
Henry of Bavaria deserted his Hungarian friends and made an 
alliance against all the world with Ottokar. In Hungary, after 
the untimely death of Stephen V., the crown was disputed be- 
tween his young son Ladislaus, the Kuman, and Bela, brother- 
in-law of Ottokar. This produced a civil war, which made 
Ottokar more powerful than ever. He ruled over a well organ- 
ised and well governed kingdom, while the rest of Germany was 
a prey to weakness and disunion. The commanding position 
held by the Bohemian sovereign before the election of Rudolf 
of Hapsburg, although it is recognised by Dante, is too much 
neglected by historians. 

Pope Clement IV. heard of the victory of Benevento with 
mixed feelings. Although a Frenchman, he could not look with 
satisfaction on the position which his friend Charles p a t e f 
had now attained, nor could he approve of the Manfred's 
immorality and cruelty which the French ex- Party, 
habited in the country which they had conquered. When Man- 
fred's wife, Helena, heard in Lucera of her husband's death, 
she determined to retire with her children to her relations in 
Epirus. But she was seized at Trani and imprisoned at Nocera, 
where she died, after five years' miserable existence, at the age of 
twenty-nine. Her daughter Beatrice languished for eighteen 
years in the Castello dell' Uovo at Naples, till she was set 



3Q0 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1250 to 

at liberty by the Aragonese. Manfred's three young sons — 
Henry, Frederick, and Enzio — innocent boys, grew up in prison, 
fettered and half starved. The two younger soon died, but the 
eldest, now blind, prolonged his miserable life for many years. 
Meanwhile, Charles entered Naples in triumph. Romans had 
triumphed over Teutons : the church had vanquished the Hohen- 
stauffens. Frederick of Antioch and his son Conrad submitted 
to Charles, and retired into obscurity. Enzio languished in 
prison ; the scaffold disposed of the rest of Manfred's party who 
were not in prison or in banishment ; the French continued an 
unrestrained career of robbery and lust. The condition of Sicily 
was as bad as that of Italy. 

The Ghibellines, in their distress, looked to Conradin, the 

youthful grandson of the great Frederick. Since the marriage 

Conradin °f hi s mother in 1259 with Meinhard of Gorz, 

and the who also possessed the Tyrol and Carinthia, he 

Ghibellines. had lived quietly, either with his uncle, Duke 

Louis of Bavaria, at Donauworth, or with his tutor, Bishop 

Eberhard, at Constance, nourishing his gifted soul on the songs 

of minnesingers, legends of Tannhauser, Lohengrin, and the 

Nibelungen, and stories of the greatness of his house. When 

ambassadors came to ask his assistance from Apulia and Sicily, 

calling on the king of Sicily, Apulia, and Jerusalem, and duke 

of Swabia to help them, he rose to the cry of woe, in spite 

of his mother's warning, like a young eagle, scarcely old enough 

to imp his wings. 

Charles and Clement met at Viterbo to concert measures 
against the common foe. In the autumn of 1267, Conradin set 
out from Augsburg with his cousin, Frederick of 
Italv Austria, his stepfather, Meinhard of Tyrol, and his 

uncle Louis of Bavaria, and left Swabia, never to 
return. He took leave of his mother and youthful wife at 
Hohenschwangau, — that spot of unearthly beauty, consecrated by 
the memory of another Bavarian Louis, — crossed the Brenner, 
and descended the valley of the Adige. But in Verona, where 
they found that his money was exhausted, most of his followers 
left him, even his uncle Louis, and his stepfather, Meinhard. 
Only 3000 knights remained faithful to the gallant lad. In 
Italy things were better ; Galvano Lancia was received at Rome 
with honour as his representative ; he was welcomed by embassies 
from Pisa, Siena, and the Tuscan Ghibellines. Henry of 
Castile, knight and troubadour, wrote verses in his honour, 
which urged him to take possession of the beautiful garden of 



a.d. 1268] FALL OF THE HOHENSTAUFFEN 39 1 

Sicily, and to grasp with a firm hand the crown of the Roman 
empire. The pope excommunicated him, and laid his interdict 
on all cities that were favourable to him. Charles and Clement 
met again at Viterbo in April 1268. The king wished to 
engage Conradin in the valley of the Po, but the pope persuaded 
him to remove the struggle to Apulia. 

At the beginning of May 1268, Conradin and Frederick of 
Austria united their forces at Pisa. They were received with 
enthusiasm in Tuscany, and on July 24 Conradin 
looked down upon Rome from the heights of . Rome 
Monte Mario. In the city itself he was awaited 
by a host of armed soldiers, with crowns on their helmets, while 
the people accompanied him with songs, bearing flowers and 
olive branches in their hands. The houses were decorated with 
costly carpets. Conradin mounted to the Capitol, where he re- 
ceived the homage of his subjects. On August 10, he marched 
into the mountains by way of Tivoli in order to effect a junction 
with his faithful Saracens, whom Charles was besieging in 
Lucera. The two armies met on August 23, at Scurcola, 
between Tagliacozzo and Alba, Charles marching northwards, to 
intercept the march of Conradin towards Solmona. 
In the shock of the onslaught the troops of J* ,.® ° • 
Charles were driven back, and it was reported 
that the king was dead. But, by the advice of Aymer de 
St. Valery, he had posted a band of 800 chosen knights in 
ambush behind a hill. Whilst the German troops, secure of 
victory, were plundering the Provencal camp, this reserve came 
steadily on, threw the disorderly mass into confusion, and 
gained a complete victory. Conradin and Frederick escaped the 
slaughter, and rode away by Vicovaro to Rome, which they 
reached on August 28, five days after the battle. Finding the 
capital unsafe, they rode down the Via Appia to the sea-coast, 
hoping that some friendly ship would carry them to Pisa or to 
Sicily. They found one in Astura and set sail, but were 
captured by John Frangipani, whom the pope had invested 
with the fief of Taranto. Influenced partly by fear and partly 
by a large sum of money which was offered him, Frangipani, 
deaf to all sense of honour, delivered his prisoners in chains to 
Charles at Genezzano. Charles was determined to 
put the last of the Hohenstauffens to death, but co^adin 
it was difficult to do so with any show of justice. 
Conradin was formally tried, but acquitted by all but one of 
his judges. Charles, nevertheless, pronounced the sentence 



392 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1268 to 

of death upon him. He was executed on October 29, 1268, 
in the market-place of Naples, where the spot where the 
scaffold was erected is still shown. The boy, scarcely seventeen, 
and his cousin, Frederick, a few years older, suffered together. 
After he had prayed, Conradin said, as his last words, " 
mother, what terrible news you will hear about me ! " Before 
he died, he cast his glove into the crowd, and it was taken 
up by one who afterwards stirred up the Sicilian Vespers of 
1282. Conradin was buried in the church of the Carmelites 
close by, where a beautiful statue, erected by Maximilian of 
Bavaria, commemorates his fate. His life and death have 
never been forgotten, and it was said in September 1870 that 
Sedan exacted vengeance for Tagliacozzo. 

Four weeks later, Pope Clement IV. died, the spirit of the 
murdered Conradin troubling his last hours. For two years 
the cardinals in Viterbo neglected to supply his place, but in 
September 1271 the choice fell upon Tibaldo Visconti of 
Piacenza, who was then engaged in a crusade, and could not be 
crowned in St. Peter's till March 1272, when he assumed the 
title of Gregory X. He strove to increase the independence of 
the Holy See, disregarded the claims of Alfonso of Castile to the 
imperial crown, and favoured those of Rudolf of Hapsburg, who 
was elected in the following year. He summoned an oecumenical 
council at Lyons in the spring of 1274, which placed the conduct 
of crusades on an orderly footing, took some steps towards the 
union of the Greek and Latin churches, and drew up rules for 
the election of popes in a secret conclave. Thomas Aquinas and 
Bonaventura — the shining lights of the Dominican and Fran- 
ciscan Orders respectively — both died at the time of this 
council, one at Fossa Nuova, on his way to attend it, — the 
other of plague, in Lyons itself. After the death of Gregory 
in 1276 four Popes were enthroned within two years, — Innocent 
V., Hadrian V., John XXL, and the Orsini, Nicholas III., 
elected in December 1277, who succeeded, with the assistance of 
Rudolf of Hapsburg, in putting some check on the overweening 
power of Charles, which he did by increasing the power and 
importance of the papal families. His nepotism and his avarice 
induced Dante to find for him a place in Hell. The worldly- 
minded pontiff died on August 22, 1280, in his castle at Soriano, 
and, after an interval of party strife, was succeeded on February 
22, 1281, by Martin IV., a friend of Charles, so that the French 
domination was established on a firmer footing. 



ad. 1301] NAPLES AND SICILY 393 

But soon a conspiracy against the Angevin monarchy arose 
in Sicily, headed by John of Procida, the friend and physician 
of Manfred, who is said to have taken up the 
glove of Oonradin in the market-place of Naples. p roc ida 
He first addressed himself to Constance, the 
daughter of Manfred, and wife of Peter of Aragon, with a letter 
of recommendation from Pope Nicholas III. ; encouraged by 
her, he travelled secretly through Sicily, stirring up the island 
to revolt, with the aid of money from the court of Byzantium. 
On March 30, 1282, as a crowded congregation were gathered in 
the cathedral of Palermo at the vesper office of Easter Tuesday, 
a French soldier insulted an Italian girl, on the pretence of 
searching for arms. The chance match set light to a flame, a 
cry arose, " Death to the French ! " the passionate 
desire for vengeance spread through the whole veaners ™ n 
island, and thousands perished in the massacre, 
which still bears the name of the Sicilian Vespers. Palermo 
declared its independence, and raised the imperial standard ; 
the French garrison of Messina was burnt to death ; and Charles 
had to face the task of reconquering the whole island. 

No help could be expected from Martin IV., so the insurgents 
applied to Peter. At the end of August, the fleet of Aragon 
appeared before Trapani, and after two months peter of 
the Spaniard became master of the island. In Aragon in 
June 1283, Peter and Constance were crowned in Sicily. 
Palermo, and the government of the island was committed to 
John of Procida and Roger of Loria. Charles was in great 
difficulties. While he was absent in Marseilles, collecting a 
fresh fleet, his son Charles of Salerno was captured at sea by 
Roger of Loria, and was saved from the fate of Manfred and 
Conradin only by the intervention of Constance and Peter. 
These misfortunes so broke the spirit of Charles Death of 
that he died at Foggia on January 7, 1284, and Charles of 
he was followed to the grave by Martin IV. on Anjou. 
March 28, and by Peter of Aragon on November 11, 1285. As 
the eldest son of Charles was a prisoner, the government of 
Naples was undertaken by Robert of Artois. James of Aragon, 
the second son of Peter, was crowned king of Sicily at Palermo, 
and Roger of Loria exacted vengeance for Conradin by destroying 
the castle of Astura, and putting the son of the traitor Frangipani 
to death. Pope Honorius IV. died after a short reign, and, after 
a year's interval, a Franciscan friar was elected as his successor, 
under the title of Nicholas IV. on February 22, 1288. At last, 



394 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1268 to 

by the mediation of King Edward of England, the son of Charles 
of Anjou was released from captivity, and, in May 1289, was 
crowned by the pope in Rieti as king of the two Sicilies, under 
the title of Charles II. 

We must complete the history of sonthern Italy before we 
return to that of Germany. Nicholas IV. saw the power of the 
Decline of papacy gradually wane. The crown of Sicily 
the Papal came into the hands of Frederick of Aragon, the 
Power. youngest son of Peter, the grandson of Manfred. 

Rome was torn by the factions of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, 
the first represented by the Orsini, the second by the Colonna. 
Republican principles and municipal government made their 
way into central Italy. After the death of Nicholas, on April 4, 
1292, the throne of St. Peter remained vacant for a year, until it 
was filled by Coelestine V., the son of a peasant of Molise, who 
had lived for years as a hermit in a cave in the hill of Murrone, 
close to Solmona. He was crowned with great pomp at Aquila, 
and lived in the palace of Charles II. at Naples. He had been 
chosen for his piety, but he found himself entirely unfitted for 
the position and the business of the pontificate, and, after four 
months' phantom rule, he did the best action of his life in a 
voluntary abdication in December 1294, although it is a general 
opinion that Dante placed him in Hell for having been guilty of 
the " gran rifiuto " (the great refusal), the casting-off of public 
duties deliberately entrusted to him. 

He was succeeded by one of the most vigorous of the Popes, 
Benedict Gaetani, who took the name of Boniface VIII. 
Boniface immediately went to Rome, carrying 
ace w ith him the abject Coelestine as a prisoner. 

When he escaped to his cave and the society of 
the Coelestine Order which he had founded, Boniface dragged him 
out and imprisoned him in the castle of Fumone, where he soon 
afterwards died. Boniface endeavoured to restore the power of 
the papacy, and began with Sicily, which, however, succeeded in 
preserving its independence under Frederick of Aragon. He then 
attacked the Colonna,, whom he reduced to submission. Unable 
to conquer Frederick, he summoned to his assistance Charles 
of Valois, also count of Anjou, brother of Philip IV., king of 
France. Charles met Boniface at Anagni on September 3, 1301, 
and discussed with him and Charles II. the possibility of subduing 
Frederick in Sicily. Before their arrangements were concluded, 
Charles of Valois marched into Florence and established there 
the authority of the Guelf party. At last peace was made 



a.d.1301] END OF THE CRUSADES 395 

between Charles II. and Frederick, on condition that Frederick 
should marry Charles' daughter Eleanore and reign for life as 
"King of Trinacria," and that the island should, after his 
death, pass to the house of Anjou, a condition which was 
never fulfilled. 

The last two crusades, which are connected with the name 
and fortunes of Louis IX. of France, arose from the conquests 
of the Mongolian leader, Genghis Khan, who, 
proclaiming himself emperor (1206), turned his Crusades 6 
arms against the Charasmians and became master 
of Palestine. In 1248, Louis IX. landed in Cyprus; next year 
he advanced to Egypt and took Damietta, but was after- 
wards defeated and made prisoner, and had to renounce his 
conquests. At last, after five years spent in the East, Louis 
returned to France in 1254, in consequence of the strong 
representations of his mother, Blanche of Castile, who had 
conducted the government in his absence. The last expedition 
of Louis to the East, in 1270, hardly deserves the name of 
crusade. It was undertaken with the object of separating 
the Saracens in Africa from those in Sicily, and preventing 
them from assisting each other. Louis died of fever at Tunis 
in August, and Charles of Anjou, who had hastened to assist 
him, found his brother a corpse. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE HANSA, 1150-1400— THE IBEKIAN PENINSULA, 1000-1344 
—ENGLAND, 1087-1189. 

It is impossible to write the history of the world with any 
clearness or success, unless it is regarded from some central 
point of view. The central position adopted in this history 
has been that of the empire and the papacy, the two powers 
which kept the states of Europe together as a single society, 
and whose dissolution in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth 
century brought about a new epoch and began modern history. 
We have now reached, roughly speaking, the end of the 
thirteenth century, when the empire is receiving a new form 
under the house of Hapsburg ; the papacy is approaching a 
time of weakness, by the removal of the see to Avignon, 
from which it has never recovered ; and the kingdoms of Europe, 
in consequence of the loosening of these bonds, are beginning 
to assert themselves ; while the crusades and the spirit which 
animated them have come to an end by the fall of Acre in 
1291. We must now deal with Spain, England, and France 
separately, taking the history of each of them down to the 
middle of the fourteenth century, leaving the fortunes of 
the empire and the papacy to be described later, except so 
far as they are dealt with in the annals of the countries we 
have mentioned. To follow a completely chronological order is 
impossible, and we must adopt a compromise. 

The weakening of the central power of Europe produced 
leagues to insure the mutual protection which the superior 
authorities were not able to supply, and we will give some 
account of the most powerful and distinguished of them — the 
Hansa — which will serve as a specimen of the rest. The inner 
unity of Europe, apart from political alliances, was begun 
by commerce, and its first notable appearance is found in 
the connection between England and Germany, or, more 
exactly, between the two great commercial cities of Cologne 
and London. Cologne was the only seaport of the German 

396 



a.d. H50-1400] THE HANSA 397 

empire, and as early as the reign of Aethelred II. we find 
a statute regulating the tolls payable for German participation 
in London markets. Henry II , in a decree of Birth of 
1157, took the merchants of Cologne under his European 
special protection, and Richard Cceur-de-Lion, on Commerce, 
passing through Cologne after his imprisonment, gave the 
citizens the privilege of free commerce in all England, with 
liberty to visit all fairs. The Plantagenet kings were favour- 
able to foreign trade, and in the fourteenth century foreign 
merchants were useful to English kings for the purposes of 
loans, and the English barons, who were in conflict with the 
monarchy, found it also to their interest to encourage them. On 
the other hand, the English towns and guilds, which had begun 
to assume an important position, were anxious to preserve 
a monopoly. Another important commercial league was formed 
in Belgium, where seventeen towns leagued together for mutual 
protection. The Flemish towns were chiefly occupied in weaving 
cloth, for which the raw material came from England, the 
English climate being specially suited to the production of pure 
wool. The manufactured cloth often came back to England, 
but we do not find fine cloth made in England till the time 
of the Tudor s. 

The growth of international commerce made new financial 
arrangements necessary, and the Italians were the first financiers. 
In the fourteenth century they first adopted the interna- 
system of companies of shareholders, which had tional 
their consuls and other agents in northern Europe. Finance. 
The financiers also began to frequent certain quarters in different 
towns, such as the Rialto in Venice, which may be regarded as 
the parent of our modern exchanges. The Lombards became 
famous as lenders of money, but their business was regarded as 
unchristian, and the taking of usury was forbidden by the 
church ; consequently money-lending fell into the hands of the 
Jews. But the Lombards had accumulated a large amount of 
capital, and, to some extent, took the place of the Jews, who were 
expelled from England under Edward I. in 1290. Dante has 
made us familiar with the hatred with which the Caorsini, or 
inhabitants of Cahors in France, were regarded, who were 
usurers, but the name was given to all the usurers in southern 
Europe, just as bankers were called Lombards. The Caorsini 
came first into England in 1285, under the protection of the 
pope, to whom they lent money. In the next century, their 
place was taken by the so-called Lombards, who were chiefly 



398 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1150 to 

Florentines, represented by the great houses of Bardi, Varrazzi, 
and Frescobaldi, and who lent money to sovereigns, sometimes 
at a great loss. 

In the thirteenth century, a new set of merchants came from 

the Baltic, under the name of Easterlings. The Cologne Hansa 

The Hansas opposed them strongly, and they had to ask for 

and the assistance from Frederick II. The Hamburgers 

Easterlings. obtained the right to make a separate Hansa in 

126G, and the Liibeckers in the following year. At last 

Cologne had to give way, and the three Hansas of Hamburg, 

Liibeck, and Cologne became one. They established, in 1282, a 

factory on the Thames, called the Steelyard, and it remained 

the property of the Hansa till 1852. Similar factories were 

founded at Bruges in Belgium, Bergen in Norway, and Novgorod 

in Russia. They were surrounded by walls, and the gates were 

closed at night. 

One of the principal seats of the Hansa was the town of Wisby, 
in the Swedish island of Gothland. It is still worth a visit, 
but it once had forty-two towers sixty or seventy 
*' feet high, eighteen churches, mighty walls, and 
12,000 citizens. In Russia, Kiev was for many years the great 
market for exchanging the products of the East with those of 
northern Europe. But at last it was found that an easier 
passage lay through northern Italy. A settlement of the Hansa 
was now established at Great Novgorod, and the merchants of 
St. Nicholas' Hof , in Wisby, transferred themselves to St. Peter's 
Hof in Novgorod. The river Volkov divided the 
city into two parts, the trading town being on the 
right bank, the municipality on the left. The Novgorod 
merchants assembled in the church of St. John, and founded St. 
John's Guild. The town was a virtual republic, and was governed 
by a popular assembly. But it was difficult of access. Ships bound 
for it passed from the gulf of Finland up the Neva, and through 
Lake Ladoga to the mouth of the Volkov, and had to tranship 
their goods into lighter vessels, for the completion of the journey 
of eighty miles. Two convoys came from Germany every year, 
the winter convoy and the summer convoy. There was also a 
land convoy, but it was considered of less importance. The 
foreign traders were known as Latins ; they were under the 
special protection of the church, and had an or- 
ganisation of their own, with a code of laws. St. 
Peter's court, as it was called, was governed by two aldermen, 
and in cases of difficulty appeal was made to Wisby, but Liibeck 



a.d. 1400] THE HANSA 399 

gradually asserted herself, and obtained first a share and then a 
supremacy in the government of the Novgorod Hansa. Liibeck 
did not secure her power without a straggle. She had to 
contend with Denmark, who was ambitious for the control of 
the Baltic trade. In order to maintain her position as the 
staple between East and West, she was always trying to pre- 
vent direct communication between the two, and there was no 
difficulty in this when the Sound was impassable from ice. 

But in the earlier times the most important centre of inter- 
national commerce was Bruges. It was a place for the ex- 
change of the products of western and southern _ 
Europe for those of the East. The produce of 
the Levant came from the Rhine and from France. Ships 
laden with wine arrived from Gascony, Portugal, and Spain. 
In the thirteenth century the Easterlings appeared, though 
at first they had no permanent settlement. Bruges owed its 
mercantile importance to being a seaport : it was connected 
by canals with Sluys and Damme, both on the coast — though 
transhipment was generally necessary — and great dykes, built 
at the end of the twelfth century, pi-otected it from floods. 
But, like Ghent and Ypres, it was also a manufacturing- 
town, its chief product being cloth, which it wove, refined, 
and dyed. 

During the weakness of the empire which succeeded the fall 
of the Hohenstauffens, the commercial towns began to form 
leagues of mutual protection. There were three 
principal groups. The Wendish group, which Leagues' 51 * 1 
formed the kernel of the Hansa league, consisted 
of Liibeck, Rostock, Stralsund, Wismar, Greifswald, Hamburg, 
and Liineburg. Liibeck and Hamburg formed an alliance in the 
middle of the thirteenth century, making common cause against 
pirates and sharing the expense. There were also the group of 
the lower Rhine and Westphalia, and the group of the Nether- 
lands. With other smaller groups, these principal groups made 
up the Hansa. But a well organised confedera- Constitu- 
tion of all the commercial towns never existed, and tion of the 
all attempts to form such a league were failures. Hansa. 
Liibeck indeed did her best to create one by holding meetings, 
passing statutes, and imposing contributions, but the meetings 
were not attended, the statutes were not obeyed, and the con- 
tributions were not paid. No looser confederation is known to 
history. Liibeck was no Athens, and the Hansa no Delian League. 
It had no powers of armed compulsion : indeed, most of its com- 



400 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. c. 1000 to 

ponent towns were subject to the emperor. The Teutonic Knights 
exercised jurisdiction over the towns in their domain, which did 
not become independent till that Order fell. And, though at 
one time or another, some ninety towns paid contributions to 
the Hansa, the payment was not continuous and the geo- 
graphical limits were very badly defined. Liibeck exercised a 
supremacy, and summoned meetings, but the only sanction for 
their resolutions was amongst themselves the boycott, and 
against foreigners the strike ; and the use of these weapons at 
different times was often the cause of disaster to the towns who 
employed them. It is difficult to lead commerce back into paths 
which it has once deserted. At the close of the fourteenth 
century, a body of pirates made their appearance in the North 
Sea, known as Vitalian Brothers, a name which is supposed to 
be connected with a desire to provide themselves with victuals. 
They conquered Gothland, passed into the North Sea, and 
plundered Bergen, so that the Hansa had to arm themselves 
against them and summon the southern towns to their assist- 
ance. However, in April 1402, the pirates were defeated, and 
their leaders made prisoner. The history of the Hansa after 
1400 will be treated of later. 



THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, A.D. c. 1000-1344. 

We must now turn our attention to the Iberian peninsula, 
where the struggle between the Christians and the Moors was 
proceeding with great intensity. The dynasty of the Ommaijads 
died out about the end of the tenth century with Hisham III., a 
descendant of the great Abderahman. The power of the khalifs 
still continued in Bagdad and Cairo, but in Cordova it was lost 
for ever. The empire, once so powerful, was broken up into tiny 
principalities, each town with its emir, vali, or cadi. Perpetual 
war raged between them, the stronger always endeavouring to 
suppress the weaker. In this manner, some thirty years later, 
Cordova fell into the hands of the emir of Seville, who was the 
most powerful Mohammedan sovereign in Spain, except the emir 
Conquests of °f Toledo. But in May 1085, Alfonso VI., king of 
Alfonso VI. Castile, made his triumphal entry into Toledo. He 
of Castile. promised the inhabitants the possession of their 
property, the practice of their religion, and the maintenance of 
their laws and privileges. But many Christians from the 
north settled in the town, and swelled the numbers of the 
Mozarabian Christians, whose worship had been tolerated by the 



ad. 1344] THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 401 

Moors. Archbishop Bernard of Sahagun took possession of the 
great mosque at Toledo for Christian worship, while Talavera, 
Madrid, and other towns gradually suffered the same fate as 
Toledo. 

In 1086 the Almoravids of Morocco, a very powerful tribe, 
which from a family of simple Bedouins had gradually become 
masters of Morocco, were invited into the penin- 
sula to oppose the encroachments of the Cross. Almoravids 
In the great battle of Solara, not far from Badajoz, 
Alfonso and the Castilian knights were severely defeated, and 
ten thousand Christians' heads were sent to deck the battlements 
of Spanish and African fortresses. The Almoravids soon proved 
themselves rather masters than allies, and, by the close of the 
century, they were ruling over the southern portion of the 
peninsula. Seville was conquered by them in 1090 ; Granada, 
Malaga, Jaen, and Cordova fell before their victorious onsets. 
Saragossa alone remained independent, and, with its surrounding 
districts, formed a buffer state between the Christians and the 
Moors. To this period belong the exploits of the great com- 
mander, the Cid, Buy Diaz, the Campeador, 
praised in Spanish romances as the paragon of 
heroic virtue, the crown of chivalry, the pattern and prototype 
of the manly warrior. The last action of his life was the con- 
quest of Valencia in 1095. 

After his death, deeper misfortunes fell upon the banner of 
Castile. On May 30, 1108, was fought the battle of Ucles, in 
which Sancho, the youthful son of the aged king, The 
Alfonso, hoped to drive the unbelievers from that Christian 
mountain city, and to show himself worthy of sue- Kingdoms. 
cession to the crown. But he was slain on the battle-field, and 
with him perished the flower of Castilian chivalry. Alfonso 
could not survive this disaster, for Sancho had been the hope of 
his life. He was the son of his fifth wife, the daughter of the 
Emir Mohammed of Seville, who had been converted to 
Christianity. His first four wives had only borne him daughters. 
He died just a year afterwards — the "Shield of Spain," as he 
was called, the conqueror of Toledo, the strongest barrier of his 
country against the Moors — and his death gave new lustre 
to the line of the Almoravid rulers. Thus, at the beginning 
of the twelfth century, the peninsula was still divided between 
Mohammedans and Christians, the Christians being settled in 
the kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal, and in the 
marquisate of Barcelona. The individualism, the spirit of 

2 c 



402 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. c. 1000 to 

separation, which has, through a large portion of her history, so 
fatally weakened Spain, was even then apparent, and a powerful 
prince ,of Navarre, Leon, or Galicia could easily assert his inde- 
pendence against his feudal sovereign. However, the Moors 
began to yield ground, and in 1118, Saragossa, so long the abode 
of Moslem emirs, became the capital of Alfonso I. of Aragon, 
who reigned from 1104 to 1134. He received the title of 
Batallador, the fighter of battles. 

In the middle of the century, a rising of the original Spanish 
Moors against the Almoravids took place in Andalusia, led by 
Dissensions Abdel Mumin, the successor of a mahdi who 
among the had founded a religious sect, and had preached 
Moors. a crusade in Morocco. Algeciras was conquered ; 

Gibraltar, and Xeres opened their gates ; in Seville and Malaga 
public prayers were offered for the success of the new prophet. 
In their distress the Almoravids called to their assistance 
Alfonso VII., the successor of Alfonso VI., the " Shield, of . 
Spain," whose career we have related. Alfonso was glad to. 
seize an opportunity which was so much to his advantage, and, 
with the help of Count Raymond Berengar of Catalonia and 
Count William of Montpellier, wrested Tortona from the Moors, 
and gained, for a time, possession of Almeria. To the period 
immediately preceding his death we owe the military orders 
of Calatrava, Alcantara, and Compostella, which for some time 
defended the frontiers of the Ebro and the Douro against the 
Moslems., in spite of the internal dissensions of the Christian 
kingdoms. But, since the days of Almanzor, no prince had 
fought with such success against the Christians, as Almohad 
Empire of Abdel Mumin, the Commander of the Faithful. 
i Abdel In twenty years, he founded an empire which ex- 

Mumin. tended from the edge of the Sahara to the banks 

of the Guadiana, and from the shore of the Mediterranean to, 
the coasts of Cyrene. He was equally great as a general and as 
a statesman ; he gave his empire a firm political organisation, and 
placed his army and his fleet on a solid foundation of security. 
In Morocco he founded an empire for the training of civil 
servants and officers: in Seville and Cordova he revived the 
splendours of Ommaijad culture, but without the luxury and 
effeminacy which accompanied it. His life was simple, as his 
aims wer& clear. War and conquest were the chief objects of 
his soul. After a reign of thirty-three years, he was succeeded 
in 1163 by his son, the Cid Jusuf, and his son James Almanzor 
brought the century to a close. In 1195, the Moors won the. 



a.d. 1344] THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 403 

victor}' of Alarcos, in which the flower of Christian chivalry — not 
only the knights of Calatrava, Alcantara, and Compostella, but 
those of the Temple and St. John — covered with their corpses the 
stricken field. But the Cross was at last avenged in the mighty 
battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, fought on Monday, 
July 16, 1212. Pope Innocent III. had proclaimed J^Navas 
a general crusade against the infidel. A crowd 
of ultramontane knights — it is said 110,000 in number— came 
from all parts of Europe to assist the Spaniards. Many of them 
retired before the battle, but, notwithstanding this, the Christians 
marched forth from Toledo on June 21 to meet the Moslem in- 
vaders. They found the passes of the mountains .strongly, 
guarded, and were despairing of success when St. Isidore, the 
patron saint of Marbad, presented himself in the guise of a 
bearded shepherd, and pointed out a bye-path by which the col 
could be turned. The victory was complete : it is said that 
more than 100,000 Moors were killed. The Moslem supremacy 
in Spain received its death-blow. For many years afterwards 
was celebrated in Madrid, July 16, the yearly festival of the 
triumph of the Cross. After the catastrophe of Las ISTavas, the 
decline of the Moslem rule proceeded with stead}? Decline of 
progress, only checked by the dissensions in the Moslem 
ranks of the Christians themselves. In 1 236, Ferdi- Rule- 
nand III. of Castile, who bore the title of Saint, became master 
of Cordova, the capital of the khalifs, after a long siege. The 
Moslem inhabitants were compelled to leave the town and to 
settle in other cities, and the mosque was turned into a cathedral, 
now one of the wonders of the world. In 1248, Seville suffered 
a similar fate ; the Moors emigrated from Andalusia in thousands, 
some to Granada, some to the Moorish settlements in Murcia, 
and some over the sea to Africa. 

To the loss of Seville is due the rise of the Alhambra. The 
kingdom of Granada was tributary to Castile, but the fertility 
of its soil and its commercial importance raised it i^e 
to eminence. Moorish customs, which were dying Kingdom 
out in Murcia, Valencia, and Andalusia, remained of Granada, 
unchanged in Granada, where a number of civilised Moors of 
good birth were collected together, who preserved inviolate 
the traditional culture of their race, the love of science and 
education, of poetry and song, of music and architecture. The 
Alhambra bears everywhere inscribed upon its walls, " There 
is no conqueror but Allah," like the " Honi soit qui mal y 
pense " of the English Windsor. The origin of this was that when 



404 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. c. iooo-1344 

Mohammed Ibn al Hamah returned to his dominions after the 
taking of Seville, he was saluted by his subjects with the cry 
of "Garlib" (the conqueror), and he replied, "There is no 
conqueror but Allah." Under him and his successors, the 
little Saracen kingdom was able, from time to time, to assert 
its independence, and to gain a few precarious triumphs. But 

in 1340 was fought the battle of Salado, the 
Salacfo theme of many a Spanish song. Here the Moorish 

power was crushed for ever, and four years later 
the harbour of Algeciras, the connecting link between Africa 
and Spain, fell into the hands of Alfonso XI. of Castile, leaving 
the expulsion of the Moors a mere matter of time. 

Still, to the outward eye, the kingdom of Granada presented 
a proud appearance, and retained rmich of its old splendour 

and magnificence. It was protected on the sides 

1344-1481 ° f the n01 ' th and eaSt hy the loft y ran & e oi the 
Sierra Nevada, rich with mineral treasures, sup- 
plying in the heat of summer a refreshing breeze from its 
snow-covered heights. The valleys, watered by countless 
streams, contained pastures on their upper, and vines and 
fruits on their lower slopes. The lofty plateau of the Vega, 
watered by the river Xenil, was covered by cornfields and 
orchards, while the harbours of the coast received ships from 
all the nations of the world. In the midst of this earthly 
paradise there arose, like a crown of beauty, the city of Granada, 
seated on its double hills, defended by walls and towers, adorned 
by palaces and mosques, surrounded by pleasure gardens, filled 
with splashing fountains and shady arbours. On one of these 
hills stood the castle of the Alhambra, a jewel which needs 
no praise, " shining," as an Arab poet says, " like a star through 
the foliage of olive groves." Granada had a sufficient army to 
defend it, and, if its inhabitants failed, the warlike hosts of 
Africa could be summoned to its assistance. Under pressure, 
the Moorish prince could place 100,000 armed soldiers in the 
field, comprising formidable archers and light Arabian cavalry. 
But for more than a hundred years a good understanding was 
maintained with the court of Castile, until the reign of Muled 
Abul Hassan, which began in 1466. When, in 1476, a tribute 
was demanded by Queen Isabella, the emir replied that the 
mines of Granada no longer yielded gold, but steel, and in 
1481 he attacked, on a stormy winter's night, the little mountain 
fortress of Zahara, on the frontiers of Andalusia. The garrison 
was cut to pieces, and the inhabitants — men, women, and chil- 



a.d. 1087-1189] ENGLAND 405 

dren — were carried off as slaves to Granada. When the news 
reached the Moorish capital, an aged priest cried out, " The 
ruins of Zahara will fall upon our own head ; the days of the 
Moslem empire in Spain are numbered." We must now leave 
this history — the fall of Granada belongs to the close of the 
Middle Ases. 



ENGLAND, A.D. 1087-1189. 

The history of England now claims our attention, but, for the 
reasons before mentioned, it will not be treated in detail. On 
the death of William the Conqueror in 1087, his 
second son, William, called Rufus or the Red, was ^ 1 f 
crowned in Westminster Abbey, eighteen days 
later, by Archbishop Lanfranc. This excellent prelate died 
in 1089. His place as adviser was taken by Ranulf Flambard, 
the justiciar, an unscrupulous character, who rose to be bishop of 
Durham. His great object was to obtain money for the king's 
extravagance, and he did this by putting pressure on the law 
courts, and exacting more rigorously the payment of feudal 
dues. It is said that William neither feared God nor respected 
man, but, as he suppressed the power of the barons, he was 
popular with the English, who were also gratified by the separa- 
tion of Normandy, which had been left by the Conqueror to 
Robert, his eldest son. Rufus incorporated Cumberland with 
England, and fortified Carlisle ; he conquered South Wales, and 
established his authority in Scotland, so as to make the English 
and Norman elements of civilisation predominate in the Low- 
lands. After the see of Canterbury had been vacant for four 
years, it was filled by the appointment of the great Anselm to 
the archbishopric. But Rufus opposed all Anselm's wishes, 
and quarrelled with him so constantly that in 1097 Anselm 
withdrew to the continent, and thus in 1099 was present at the 
Lateran Council, which decided against lay investitures. In the 
next year, Rufus was killed by an arrow in the New Forest, 
while out hunting. 

Rufus was succeeded by his brother Henry, who reigned for 
thirty-five years (1100 to 1135). Robert of Normandy had 
not yet returned from the first crusade, and the 
English acknowledged Henry as their king, fear- g 6111 ^ 
ing an interregnum. He was an able man, and 
well educated, as his title " Beauclerc" implies, but he was wilful 
and immoral. At the same time, he respected the Christian 



406 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1087 to 

faith, at least outwardly. On his accession, he issued a charter, 
which is memorable in English history. He promised the 
church freedom in its government and the abolition of evil 
customs, such as keeping bishoprics vacant. He also promised 
to the barons that he would exact nothing from them beyond 
what was authorised by law, that he would not force marriages 
on heiresses or widows, that he would render feudal dues less 
oppressive, and that he would allow the disposal of personal 
property by will. He promised to the people that he would 
enforce the laws of Edward the Confessor, as improved by 
William, and that he would maintain the standard of the 
coinage. This charter may be regarded as the foundation of 
the Great Charter, which was granted in 1215. 

In the first year of his reign, he imprisoned Ranulf Flambard, 

and married Matilda, daughter of Malcolm III. of Scotland and 

Margaret, the crranddauaditer of Edmund Iron- 

TTanvu q n rl 

Robert side, thus un iting the Norman and Saxon dynas- 

ties. In the following year, Robert, returning 
from the East, with the glamour of a successful crusader, and 
supported by the Norman barons, invaded England and attacked 
Henry, but the church and the people were too strong for him, 
and a treaty was made, by which Robert acknowledged his 
brother's right to the crown. Robert of Belesme, the most 
stubborn and most powerful of Henry's antagonists, a monster 
in human form, whose savage cruelties were long the subject of 
poetry and legend, was conquered by Henry and deprived of 
his castles. He fled to Normandy, and stirred up the impetuous 
Robert to rebel a second time against his brother. At this 
time Robert's Apulian wife died, and he was deprived of the 
revenues which she had brought him from southern Italy, so 
that he lost the allegiance of his nobles. 

Henry invaded Normandy, and offered Robert favourable 

terms, but he preferred the arbitrament of arms. On September 

28, 1106, forty years to a day after the battle of 

Nor^ndv* Hastings, the battle of Tenchebrai was fought 
between the two brothers. The duke was de- 
feated and four hundred of his knights were taken ; Robert of 
Belesme escaped, but many years afterwards was captured by 
Henry and confined at Wareham, where he died. Robert and 
Edgar Aetheling, the last male of the Saxon royal line, the uncle 
of Queen Matilda, were among the captives. Robert was de- 
tained for twenty-eight years in confinement, dying in 1134 
in the castle of Cardiff, a fiery spirit with a tragic history. 



a.d. 1189] ENGLAND 40:7 

He had a son, William Clito, whose claims to the duchy of 
Normandy were supported by Louis VI. of France. This led 
to repeated wars with Fiance, until, after the death of Clito in 
1128, Normandy and Maine were secured to England. In 1107, 
the question of Investitures, long disputed between Henry and 
Anselm, was decided by the Concordat of Bee. Bishops and 
abbots were to be elected by the church, but in the The 
king's court, and with his sanction ; the pope or Concordat 
the archbishop was to confer spiritual rights by of Bee. 
the gift of the ring and the crosier, but the bishop or abbot 
elect was first to do homage to the king for the lands 
of his see. Anselm died two years later, at the age of 
seventy-six, a worthy champion of papal power and of scholastic 
learning. 

Henry now set himself to give England a strong government. 
Roger, bishop of Salisbury, was made justiciar, and with his 
help Henry organised the kind's court, the curia 

regis, and connected the courts of the shire with .. „ 
, , , . . . , , .;. t tne Crown. 

the royal court. A ministerial nobility, depen- 
dent upon the crown, gradually grew up in the place of 
the independent barons, whose power Henry destroyed. Royal 
castles, well garrisoned, took the place of the feudal castles, 
which were allowed to fall into decay. Queen Matilda died 
in 1118, a terrible loss for Henry. She left a son, William, 
deeply loved by his father, and a daughter, Matilda, who mar- 
ried the Emperor Henry V. of Germany. But on November 25, 
1120, a terrible catastrophe occurred. William was crossing 
from Normandy to England, with a throng of noble men and 
women, who were keeping themselves warm on a cold winter's 
night with copious libations. The White Ship, as she was called, 
ran upon a rock, and those in her were thrown into the water. 
William was drowned in an attempt to save his sister, the 
Comtesse de la Perche. It is said that Henry never smiled 
again. A second marriage brought him no children, so that 
the crown was left to his daughter Matilda, known as the 
Eoipress Maud, who was recognised as heiress to 
the kingdom of England and the duchy of Nor- p ress Maud 
mandy. After she had lost her husband, she married 
Geoffrey of Anjou, the son of the powerful crusader Fulk, who 
was known as Plantagenet, from the sprig of broom which he 
always wore in his cap. Henry died in Normandy, in December 
1135, but his body was brought to England and buried, in 
the abbey of Reading, which he had founded. He was a 



408 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1087 to 

wise and powerful sovereign, who loved war and the chase, 
living mainly in the forests of Windsor and Woodstock. He 
left a number of illegitimate children, the best loved of whom 
was Robert of Gloucester. He favoured science and learning, 
and encouraged the seminaries of Bee, Canterbury, Oxford, and 
Winchester. Under his reign, good historians made their 
appearance, and, although Latin was the common tongue amongst 
learned persons, Norman-French came into use and took the 
place of Anglo-Saxon among the upper classes. 

While Matilda was declared in Normandy to be the successor 

of Henry, matters took a different turn in London. The 

Angevin husband of the empress was unpopular, 

Blois whereas Stephen, count of Blois, a son of Adela, 

the daughter of William the Conqueror, who was 
the possessor of great wealth from his marriage with the heiress 
of Eustace of Boulogne, was greatly beloved, and was supported 
by the seneschal, Hugh of Bigod, by his own brother Henry, 
bishop of Winchester, and by the majority of the people. He 
was crowned by the archbishop of Canterbury on December 22, 
even before King Henry was buried. But he had no capa- 
city for government. It was said of him by a contem- 
porary that he was the mildest of men upon earth, the 
slowest to take offence and the readiest to pardon, very easy 
of approach to the poor, and liberal of alms. He was entirely 
unable to keep his barons in order, so that in his reign anarchy 
triumphed and the poor were oppressed. The nobles, whether 
singly or combined, were equal in strength to the king, and 
were therefore able to resist his authority. As the law courts 
were impotent, war was the only resource. 

The consequences of this weak government were not long 

in showing themselves. David, king of Scotland, Empress 

Maud's uncle, invaded England, and was bought 

Anarchy °^ ' J y tne 8^ ts °^ t ^ ie eai 'l^ om OI Huntingdon 
to himself, and of Carlisle to his son. Robert 
of Gloucester, half-brother of Matilda, although he took the 
oath of allegiance to Stephen, maintained an ,armed neutrality, 
fortified by the possession of the strong castle of Bristol. 
Stephen allowed the nobles to build castles all over the 
country, filled with retainers who were no better than robbers, 
who plundered the country and burned the towns, so that the 
common people believed that " Christ and His saints were asleep." 
To secure his power, Stephen used the treasure left by Henry 
to engage a force of mercenaries, wandering soldiers, chiefly 



a.d. 1189] ENGLAND 409 

from Flanders and Brabant, called Brabancons, assisted by 
others from Brittany, commanded by the counts of Penthievre 
and Richmond. 

In 1137, King David made another invasion of England, 
supported by a rising in the south-west. He was, however, 
opposed by the aged Thurstan, archbishop of York, 
who was carried through the army in a litter, ~f f ortne 
and so inflamed the courage of the soldiers. 
Also, Walter Espe, an old warrior with long hair and beard, 
addressed the host from a platform. A battle was fought 
near Northallerton, called the Battle of the Standard, from the 
appearance in it of the Italian caroccio. The Scots were 
entirely defeated. But, in the treaty of Durham, which closed 
the war, signed on April 9, 1138, Henry, the son of David, 
was invested with the county of Northumberland. Stephen 
now alienated the church by his imprisonment of Roger, bishop 
of Salisbury, and his nephew Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, 
who had offended him by setting themselves up like the barons 
and building castles in imitation of them. Even Henry of 
Winchester took the side of the clergy, and, as legate of the 
pope, summoned a council at Winchester, which, however, came 
to no conclusion. In 1139, Empress Maud landed, and was 
allowed by Stephen to pass freely to Bristol, where she found an 
army levied by her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester. In a 
battle at Lincoln in 1141, Stephen was defeated, made prisoner, 
and carried off to Bristol. In 1142, Maud was B a tt ie f 
crowned at Winchester. But she made herself Lincoln — 
unpopular by her strict government, and was Coronation 
compelled to fly to Gloucester. Robert was taken of Mau d. 
prisoner by William of Ypres, and Henry, who had crowned 
Maud, now returned to his brother's side. The civil war- 
continued for six years with varying fortunes. The empress 
was nearly captured at Oxford, and with difficulty escaped over 
fields covered with snow, and the king nearly suffered the 
same fate. In the anarchy which ensued, the west of England 
acknowledged Matilda, the east of England Stephen, the north 
of England King David of Scotland, and the centre of Eng- 
land was divided amongst the great earls. In 1147 Robert of 
Gloucester died, and the empress left England. The second 
crusade diverted the attention of the combatants to other 
matters ; Frederick Barbarossa became emperor, and Henry, 
Matilda's son, married Eleanor of Aquitaine, the divorced wife 
of Louis VII. of France. Henry now landed in England in 



4io A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1087 to 

1153, and by the efforts of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, 
and Henry of Winchester, a treaty was signed at Wallingfoid, 
at which it was arranged that Stephen should reign for the 
remainder of his life and be succeeded by Henry. This was 
made easier by the fact that Eustace, a son of Stephen, 
had died in the previous year. Stephen himself died shortly 
afterwards, on October 25, 1154. 

Henry II. reigned for thirty-five years, from 1154 to 1189. 
He was a great European prince, and the founder of the judicial 
and parliamentary systems of our country. Of his 
y four sons, two became kings of England, and of 

his three daughters, Matilda, the eldest, married Henry the Lion 
of Saxony ; the second, Eleanor, the king of Castile ; and the 
third, Johanna, William the Second, king of Sicily. Besides 
the kingdom of England, Henry ruled over Normandy and 
Maine, in right of his mother, Anjou and Touraine in right 
of his father, and Poitou, Saintonge, Limousin, Guienrie, and 
Gascony in right of his wife, so that he possessed a large portion 
of France. He was a man of great ability and untiring energy. 
He had the merit, shared by other English kings, of recognising 
that the real foundation of his power was the welfare of the 
nation which he governed. His reign may be divided into three 
periods. In the first, from 1154 to 1162, he succeeded in 



Royal 



weakening the feudal government of the nobles 



Authority and establishing the royal authority. He de- 
Restored, stroyed what are called the "adulterine" castles 
which had been built in the reign of Stephen ; he sent out of the 
country the foreign mercenaries whom Stephen had employed ; 
and he resumed the royal estates which had been alienated by his 
predecessor. Following a precedent set by Henry I., he allowed 
his feudal barons to commute their yearly service for a pecuniary 
payment called scutage, which, besides rendering the barons 
less warlike, gave the king money with which he could hire 
mercenaries. He levied it first in 1159 for the prosecution of 
a war in Toulouse. At this time the papal see was held by 
Nicholas Breakspear, the only Englishman who ever wore the 
tiara. He used the authority over islands supposed to be a 
prerogative of the pope by investing Henry with Ireland, which 
however, he had to conquer. 

The second period of Henry's reign, which lasted from 1162 
to 1172, was occupied by his struggle with the church, his 
judicial reforms, and the conquest of Ireland. In 1162, Thomas 
Becket was made archbishop of Canterbury, at the age of 



a.d. 1189J ENGLAND 4x1 

forty-four. He was born in London, of Norman descent, and 
belonged to tbe middle classes. He was educated at Merton 
Priory in Surrey, and at the University of Paris, and 
then entered the service of Theobald, archbishop w ith the 
of Canterbury. He was one of the most remark- Church — 
able of Englishmen, and deserves the reverence Thomas 
with which he has always been treated. He was Becket. 
extremely religious, an able ruler, very lovable, but, at the 
same time, headstrong and impetuous. He was made chancellor 
in 1154, and showed himself a good financier and an able judge. 
He succeeded in upholding at the same time the dignity of his 
office and the authority of the king. But when he became 
archbishop he transferred the zeal which he had displayed for 
the crown to extend the privileges of the church. When money 
was required for the war in Wales, Becket opposed Henry's 
attempt to appropriate a local tax called the " Sheriff's Aid " — 
the first instance of opposition to the king's financial measures 
since the Conquest. In 1164, at the royal palace ^he Consti- 
of Clarendon, near Salisbury, a document was tutions of 
passed, called the Constitutions of Clarendon, Clarendon, 
recording in sixteen clauses what Henry declared to be the 
English customs, of which the following are the most important : 
— (1) The separate trial of the clergy by their own order was for- 
bidden. Those accused of crime were to answer the charge in the 
king's court — to be tried, indeed, in the ecclesiastical courts, but, 
if convicted, to be degraded and sent to the king's court for 
sentence. (2) In order to check the appeals of the clergy to 
Rome, they were not allowed to leave the kingdom without the 
king's licence. (3) All appeals from the ecclesiastical courts 
were to go to the king, and were to be finally decided in the 
archbishop's court, unless the king allowed them to be taken 
to Rome. (4) All elections to archbishoprics, bishoprics, 
abbacies, and priories were to be made by the clergy in 
the king's chapel and with his assent, and the person elected 
was to do homage to the king before consecration. (5) The 
sons of villeins were not to be ordained without the consent 
of their lords. (6) No tenant in chief of the king or member 
of his household was to be excommunicated or placed under an 
interdict without the king's knowledge. 

After some hesitation, Becket accepted these articles as 
binding on the church. But he soon repented of his action. 
He shut himself up in his palace at Canterbury, and re- 
fused to perform any priestly functions until Pope Alexander 



412 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. io87 to 

should older him to resume them. The pope, however, de- 
nounced the new constitutions. Whom was Becket to obey ? 
Flight and Hi a case which now arose, he violated them by 
Return of appealing to the Holy See. He was condemned 
Becket. f or this and other matters in a council held at 

Northampton, and fled to France, carrying with him his pallium 
and his seal. Crossing from Sandwich, he at length reached 
Gravelines on November 2, 1 164. After visiting Pope Alexander 
III., he took up his abode in the Cistercian abbey of Pontigny, 
which had been assigned to him as a residence. From this 
refuge he was driven by the action of Henry. After expressing 
his confidence that God, who fed the birds of heaven and clothed 
the lilies of the field, would not desert him and his, he retired 
to the monastery of St. Columba at Sens. The quarrel between the 
archbishop and the king shook the courts of Europe, and efforts 
were made in every direction to reconcile them. We have no 
space to relate the thrilling story. At length, in 1170, when 
the king's eldest son had been crowned by the archbishop of 
York, to the disgust of Becket, who asserted his right to perform 
the ceremony — when the French king, Louis VII., was offended 
that his daughter Margaret, young Henry's wife, had not been 
crowned with him, and there was danger of war — -when the 
pope threatened Henry with an interdict, — Henry, like a wise 
statesman, yielded. A reconciliation took place between the 
two enemies in a meadow near Tours, on July 22, and on 
December 1 Becket returned in triumph to his cathedral at 
Canterbury. 

But he had many enemies, who declared that he had not re- 
turned in peace, but with fire and sword, to make his brother 
bishops a footstool under his feet. Three of the 
Becket bishops went to France, found the king at the 

castle of Bures, near Bayeux, and told him that 
he would have no peace so long as Becket was alive. Henry 
broke out into wrath against the man who had eaten his bread, 
and now trampled him under foot — whom he had covered with 
benefits, and who now treated him and his house with scorn. " By 
what cowards," he cried, " am I surrounded ! Is there no one 
who will rid me of this paltry priest?" Four of his nobles, 
fired by these words, immediately left for England by different 
roads — Richard Fitzurse, " Son of the Bear " ; Hugh of More- 
ville, a rich baron of Northumberland ; William Tracy • and 
Bichard Brito. The king sent to call them back, but it was too 
late. Becket had set out to visit young Henry at Woodstock, 



a.d. 1189] ENGLAND 413 

taking with him three valuable horses as a present, but he 
heard in London that the young king would not see him. He 
returned in wrath to Canterbury, preached on Christmas Day, 
from the text " Peace on earth, good will towards men," and 
excommunicated all those who stirred up strife between him 
and the king. He embittered the feelings of his enemies, 
and on December 29, 1170, was barbarously murdered by 
the four knights in the cathedral. When the body was un- 
dressed, they found it clothed with a hair shirt, and bearing 
traces of recent penance. The people streamed to the scene 
of the murder, the very blood was reverenced as holy, and 
Becket was proclaimed a saint by the acclamation of the 
throng before he was canonised. 

Before this momentous scene, Henry had effected important 
constitutional changes. In 1166, the Assize of Clarendon had 
established in criminal cases the " Jury of Pre- 
sentment," by which twelve men of rank and posi- Reforms 
tion swore to reveal all guilty persons, but to accuse 
no man falsely, and which was the origin of our present grand 
jury. By the Grand Assize, a jury of recognition was introduced 
into civil cases, which was the origin of our petty jury. A free- 
holder who had been deprived of his land might demand a " Jury 
of Recognition " to judge his case. In 1215, when the ordeal was 
abolished as a method of trial, by the pope, it became the duty 
of the Jury of Recognition to judge the cases brought forward 
by the' Jury of Presentment. Also, in 1169, steps were taken 
to reduce to submission the island of Ireland, 
granted to Henry by the pope, which was effected ? Ireland 
by the labours of Robert FitzStephen, Richard 
FitzGilbert, better known as Strongbow, and Maurice FitzGerald. 
An opportunity had arisen when Dermot, king of Leinster, was 
driven from his kingdom and sought help from Henry. Dermot 
died in 1171, and Henry went to Ireland to receive the submission 
of Strongbow, who had become too powerful. A council was held 
at Cashel, by which the church of Ireland, which had hitherto 
been independent, was brought under the authority of the pope. 
After this, the population of Ireland was divided into three 
sections — the inhabitants of what was called the Pale, that is, 
the district immediately around Dublin, who were loyal to the 
English crown ; the mixed Anglo-Irish, who dwelt in the open 
country ; and the wild and rebellious natives in the west. These 
three sections were constantly at war with each other. After 
the conquest of Ireland, Henry was reconciled with the pope, 



414 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. iost to 

and was solemnly absolved at Avranches in 1 172. He renounced 
ostensibly all new customs prejudicial to the church, but in 
effect a compromise was made — even, at last, on the question 
of the trial of criminous clerks. 

The last eighteen years of Henry's reign were clouded with 
sorrow. In 1173, three of his sons — Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey 
Revolt of — rose against him, assisted by their mother, the 
Henry's Queen Eleanor, and by the king of France. Young 

Sons. Henry did not care to wear the crown without 

having some regal authority ; Richard and Geoffrey hoped for 
appanages in France ; Eleanor was enraged against her husband 
in consequence of his infidelity ; and Louis VII. would have been 
glad to see the French and English possessions of the British 
crown in different hands. Hugh Bigod and several of the earls 
took the side of the rebels, and William the Lion, of Scotland, 
invaded the kingdom from the north. Civil war raged on both 
sides of the Channel. Henry called mercenaries to his aid, 
including the dreaded Brabancons. Battles were fought at Dol 
in Brittany, and at Bury St. Edmund's in England. Henry 
became convinced that the only remedy for these evils, which he 
regarded as a punishment for his own misdeeds, was to do penance 
at the shrine of the martyr. So, on July 12, 1174, happily in 
the middle of summer, after hearing a sermon from Gilbert, 
bishop of London, he went, clad in the shirt of penance, into the 
crypt, was flogged on his naked back by the priests and monks, 
and spent the night on the bare stones with prayers and tears. 
The next day he heard mass, presented the cathedral with 
costly gifts, was absolved from all his sins, and entered London 
with rejoicings. The penance soon produced its effect. On the 
very day that it was completed, "William the Lion was defeated 
at the battle of Alnwick, and was taken prisoner. Hugh Bigod 
submitted. The kings of France and England made friends at 
Gisors. William the Lion, released from prison, acknow- 
ledged the supremacy of the English crown over the Scottish 
in the treaty of Falaise. Henry, accompanied by his reconciled 
son, gave solemn thanks at the shrine of Becket for his friendly 
interposition. 

In 1176, Henry set himself to continue his judicial reforms. 
The Assize of Clarendon was amended by the Assize of North- 
Further ampton, which divided England into six circuits 
Judicial and established a system of travelling judges, 
Reforms. which still continues. A famous treatise on the 
laws of England was compiled, perhaps by the Chief Justiciar, 



a.d. 1189] ENGLAND 415 

Ranulf de Glanville. The old curia regis was reorganised, five 
judges being separated from the general fisco- judicial staff in 
1178, and required to remain always in the King's Court, and 
hear all cases brought before them ; the authority of the sheriffs 
was strengthened in the counties ; and all the departments of 
government were reformed. Henry obtained for himself so 
much reputation by these reforms that, in 1177, he was chosen 
as arbitrator between the kings of Castile and Navarre, who 
had long been disputing with regard to their respective frontiers. 
In 1181, the Assize of Arms made regulations for the national 
militia, known by the Saxon name of the Fyrd ; and in 1184 
the Assize of the Forest laid down rules for the management of 
the forest lands. 

In 1183, the young Henry began to rebel once more against 
his father, but on June 11 he died suddenly at Marcel in Querci, 
the king sending him the ring from his finger, in 
token of forgiveness. He was more of a French- L * n , r l s 
man than an Englishman, but was admired by 
both friend and foe for his knightly virtues, and praised by 
the poets of both the south and the north. After his death 
Henry liberated his wife Eleanor from prison, in which she 
had been confined for ten years, and allowed her to come to 
Normandy. He might have looked forward to a few years of 
happiness, had it not been for his extravagant affection for his 
worthless son John, the stubborn temper of his son Richard, 
and the treachery of Geoffrey, who joined King Philip Augustus, 
Louis VII. 's successor on the throne of France, in an attack on 
Normandy, but died suddenly in Paris, a posthumous child, 
Arthur, being born to him on August 19, 1186. In 1187 occurred 
the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, the effect of which we have 
already described, and in the same year war broke out again 
between Henry and Philip II. The expense of the new crusade 
was met by the imposition of the Saladin tithe, already mentioned, 
which was the first tax on personal property. The war still 
continued ; Le Mans, Tours, and Samur fell into the hands of the 
French ; Brittany was in rebellion ; John and Richard deserted 
their father. Henry lay in the castle of Chinon, broken in mind 
and body. He acknowledged himself to be the vassal of the king 
of France, but when he saw that his son John was among the 
rebels he uttered a curse against him and Richard, and gave 
up the ghost on July 6 : he was buried in the monastery of 
Fontevrault. He was undoubtedly a great king, as we have 
learnt from the relation of his life. We have said nothing of 



416 A GENERAL HISTORY La.d. 1087-H89 

his love for the fair Rosamund Clifford, whose son Geoffrey 
became chancellor and bishop of Lincoln. 

Notwithstanding the domestic troubles of his reign, he left 
England in every respect in a better condition than he found 
her. But the court was French, and, in order that England 
might acquire her self-consciousness and proceed on the course 
of orderly advance, it was necessary that she should lose her 
possessions in France. 



CHAPTER X. 

HISTORY OF ENGLAND, A.D. 1189-1377. 

King Richard I. was the spoilt child of his mother Eleanor. 
Brought up in the civil wars of south-west France, he was 
a stranger to his own country, and spent less Richard 
than a year in it as king. He knew nothing Cceur-de- 
of statesmanship and constitutional legislation, Lion. 
but only cared for the excitements of war, the sports of chivalry, 
and the songs of the troubadours. Crowned in Westminster 
Abbey on September 3, 1189, he set to work to plunder and 
persecute the J ews, from whom he exacted money for the crusade. 
For the same purpose he sold offices, civil and ecclesiastical, in 
a reckless manner. His bastard brother Geoffrey obtained for 
=£3000 the archbishopric of York, as Henry II. had desired, 
and Bishop Hugh of Durham paid =£10,000 for the county of 
Northumberland. Richard said himself that he would have 
sold London if he could have found a purchaser. He sold the 
suzerainty of Scotland for ten thousand marks, and threw the 
castles of Roxburgh and Berwick into the bargain. In this way 
he amassed an enormous treasure, which he proceeded to squander. 
He gave as recklessly as he acquired, and his brother, John, and 
his mother, Eleanor, were recipients of his inconsiderate bounty. 
Having appointed William Longchamp, bishop of Ely, chancellor 
and justiciar of the kingdom, and made peace with King Philip 
of France, he left for the third crusade in June 1 190, joining Philip 
at Messina. In Cyprus, he married Berengaria of Navarre. 

William of Ely, a Norman of humble birth, exercised 
his office with great severity, and was opposed by John, who 
hoped to receive the crown in case Richard should not return, 
which was very likely, whereas William favoured the claims 
of Arthur of Brittany, son of Geoffrey, who was certainly the 
rightful heir. With the help of Geoffrey of York, Hugh of 
Durham, and the citizens of London, William was driven from 
his position and forced into France, where he appealed to 
the pope. His place was taken by Walter of Coiitances, arch- 

417 2 D 



418 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1189 to 

bishop of Kouen. The events of the third crusade have been 
already narrated, the capture of Acre and the return of Philip 
to France, the conquest of Jaffa and Ascalon, the march on 
Jerusalem, and the truce with Saladin for three years, during 
which the Christians were to have free access to the Holy 
Sepulchre. On his return, Richard was captured by the 
duke of Austria and imprisoned by the Emperor Henry VI., 
in 1193- 

When the news of this event reached England, John en- 
deavoured to secure the kingdom with the help of Philip of 
France. Eleanor kept England true to Richard, 
fj^hif 1 *^ ^ u ^ Philip took advantage of Richard's imprison- 
ment to gain Gisors by treachery, and to get 
into his hands Aumale, the Vexin, and, indeed, the whole 
country as far as Dieppe. At length, Richard was set free 
by the payment of a large sum of money, and by the influence 
of his mother, and of Hubert Walter, who was now justiciar, 
came back to England. Walter was an excellent ruler, who 
laid the foundations of a future Parliament, by making the 
juries the representatives of the counties and giving them 
certain political powers. 

Richard returned to his country in March 1194, and was 

received with joy by the people. John went to France, in 

order to secure the French possessions of the 

Return*' 8 crown > with the hel P of Hulip- Richard pre- 
pared for war. William of Ely was recalled 
from exile. John, frightened at Richard's power, threw him- 
self at his brother's feet and received pardon. Bertrand de 
Born, the troubadour poet, says : 

" The merry time is back again, 
When motley tents bedeck the plain ; 
When walls are stormed by warriors bold, 
And captives languish in the hold ; 
When lance and banner fill the field, 
The horse, the helmet, and the shield." 

War raged from the Seine to the Garonne. The death of 
Henry VI. directed Richard's attention to Germany, as he 
was anxious to gain the imperial crown for his nephew Otto. 
The pope made, peace between the two kings. But in January 
1199, Richard was wounded at Chaluz, in a quarrel with 
Guidomar of Limoges. He died a few days later at Limoges, 
at the age of 42, and was buried there, leaving John as his 



a.d. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 419 

heir, for he had no children. He was every inch a knight, 
tall and well made, with fair hair, very strong and courageous, 
deserving the name of " Lion Heart," fond of art, music, and 
poetry. Chateau Gaillard (" the saucy castle "), which he built 
for the defence of Normandy, remains his characteristic monu- 
ment. He was renowned for his generosity. His reign gave 
opportunity for the growth of liberty in the towns, especially 
in the city of London. 

John, supported by the last will of Richard and the influence 
of Eleanor, was crowned in Westminster Abbey on May 29, 
1199, but the rightful heir to the throne was 
his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, the son of his ?° M rf 
elder brother Geoffrey. Philip Augustus, king of 
France, supported his claims ; and the two kings were also 
divided on German questions, John supporting his nephew 
Otto, Philip the Hohenstauffens. Peace was, however, made 
between them in May 1200, when Blanche of Castile was 
betrothed to Philip's son Louis, and Arthur was compelled 
to do homage to his uncle for the possession of Brittany. At 
the close of the same year, John divorced his wife Hadwisa 
of Gloucester and married Isabella of Angouleme. Arthur still 
continued to assert his rights, and, in 1203, besieged the 
castle of Mirebeau, where Queen Eleanor was lying ill. 
But he was captured, and afterwards murdered by John's 
contrivance. His murder gave Philip a handle against John. 
He was summoned to be tried by his peers at Paris, and, 
when he did not come, was condemned to lose his French 
possessions by contumacy. Chateau Gaillard was taken, and 
Caen, Coutances, Bayeux, Lisieux, and Avranches were compelled 
to submit. Rouen held out longer, but finally surrendered. 
Thus Normandy came back to France three 

hundred years after it had been conquered by „ oss , 

j.t/ Noriii3,ndv 
Rollo. The Plantagenet possessions soon followed. 

In the summer of 1205, Hubert de Burgh surrendered Chinon, 
and soon all the country between the Loire and the Garonne 
— Anjou, Maine, and Touraine — came into the hands of 
Philip. 

John was a man without character, for whom it was impos- 
sible to feel respect. His Norman nobles had deserted him, and 
it was difficult for his English vassals to remain Quarrel 
faithful to him. He was soon to find a more with the 
formidable antagonist in Pope Innocent III. The Pope. 
dispute arose about the appointment to the see of Canterbury, 



420 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. liso to 

which had become vacant by the death of Hubert Walter. On 
the death of Hubert, the younger monks elected Reginald, their 
sub-prior, as archbishop, whereas the king nominated John de 
Grey, bishop of Norwich, who was elected by the senior monks. 
The bishops of the province also put forward their claims to 
elect their metropolitan, and the decision of the question came 
to Pope Innocent III. The pope hesitated for a long time, and 
at length determined that the right of appointment belonged to 
the monks, and not to the suffragan bishops or the king. But 
he said that the sub-prior, Reginald, had been elected irregularly, 
and ordered the chapter to choose Stephen Langton, a man of 
excellent character and profound learning. The king became 
very angry, and refused to acknowledge Langton ; but the pope 
consecrated him at Viterbo and gave him the pallium on June 
17, 1207. 

When John heard of what had happened at Viterbo, he was 
beside himself with rage. He drove the monks of Canterbury 

England ou ^ °^ their cells, and confiscated their property. 

under Seventy monks and one hundred lay brothers 

Interdict. sought refuge in Flanders at St. Bertin and other 
monasteries. The bishops of London, Ely, and Worcester there- 
upon received orders to rebuke the king, and, if this produced no 
effect, to place the country under an interdict. John swore by 
the teeth of God that he would drive the bishops and all the clergy 
out of his kingdom and confiscate their property, and, if the 
pope sent messengers to England, he would send them back 
without eyes or noses. On March 28, 1208, the three bishops 
issued the interdict, and then fled the kingdom. The churches 
were closed, no bells rang, no masses were celebrated, no 
children were baptized, no dying were anointed, no dead were 
buried in consecrated earth. Many bishops and other ecclesi- 
astics left the kingdom, and their property was confiscated, only 
those of Norwich, Durham, and Winchester remaining faithful 
to the king. In the following year, the pope issued a ban 
against the king himself. 

Shunned in his own country, John betook himself to Scotland, 
Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Wales. He also renewed rela- 
tions with his nephew, the Emperor Otto IV. In the meantime, 
he treated England with the utmost severity. The bishops of 
London and Ely went to Rome, and stirred the pope to action. 
He looked about for assistance. No one was so fit to execute 
his purpose as Philip Augustus of France. The danger was 
not great. Wales was in rebellion. England ready for revolt. 



ad. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 421 

Frederic II. had crossed the Alps to wrest the imperial crown 
from Otto. Raymond of Toulouse, John's brother-in-law, was 
nearing his fall. So Innocent III. declared John j hn de- 
deposed from his throne and all his subjects ab- posed by 
solved from their allegiance, and offered the crown the Pope, 
of England and Ireland to Philip, as a reward for his fidelity. 
On April 8, 1213, the French king summoned a meeting of 
notables at Soissons, and received from them general support. 
Only Ferrand of Portugal, count of Flanders, dissented, and 
with Rainald, count of Boulogne, and other princes of the 
Netherlands, allied with John and Otto IV. At Easter, 1213, 
all Europe was in movement. But, before John marched in de- 
fence of the Welfs, he thought it prudent to become reconciled 
with the pope, and on May 13, 1213, he swore on the gospels 
submission to the pope. He promised to receive Langton as 
archbishop of Canterbury, and on May 15 he 
placed the crowns of England and Ireland in submits 
the hands of Pandulf, the pope's nuncio, and re- 
ceived them back as the pope's vassal, promising to pay a yearly 
tribute of a thousand marks into the pope's coffers. John was 
absolved from excommunication, and Philip was told that he 
must stop his warlike operations. John was now able to send 
a fleet to Flanders under his bastard brother William Longsword, 
who destroyed most of the French fleet at Damme. 

We now approach the period of the Great Charter. On 
August 4, 1213, a council was held at St. Alban's by Geoffrey 
Fitz Peter and Peter des Roches, at which pro- 
clamation was made of the restoration of good and , ,° x 5 n ° 
the abolition of bad laws, and, on August 25, at 
a council held at St. Paul's, Stephen Langton read the charter 
of Henry I. to the assembled barons. At this time, Geoffrey 
FitzPeter died, and Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, 
became justiciar. Although John was reconciled with the pope, 
this did not prevent him from taking part w T ith Raimond of 
Toulouse and Otto IV., who were both excommunicated. He 
himself sailed to La Rochelle, while William Longsword joined 
Otto, Ferrand, and Rainald in the Netherlands. The great 
battle of Bouvines, which we have before de- 
scribed as one of the decisive battles of the Bouvines 
world, took place on July 27, 1214, and the 
French cavalry gained a victory over the forces of the allied 
nations of Germany, England, and the Netherlands. John had 
to surrender, in the treaty of Chinon, his western territory in 



422 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1189 to 

France from the Seine to the Garonne, and retained only 
Aquitaine and the harbour of La Rochelle. 

John was now entirely at the mercy of the barons. He 

attempted to form a party for himself by promising freedom 

of election of the bishops to the church, taking 

c , e Jr re the vow of a crusade, and appealing to the pope. 

But the barons collected an army and forced him 
to sign the Great Charter at Runnymede, a large meadow by 
the side of the Thames, near Staines, with an island in the 
stream, where the king is supposed to have pitched his tent. 
Magna Oharta (the Great Charter), as it was called, was signed 
at Runnymede on June 15, 1215. It was a statement of the 
rights of the English barons. The king was expected to keep 
the law, and the charter stated what the law was, but it was 
entirely feudal in character. It was a statement to which 
Englishmen could appeal in their struggle for liberty against 
the king. Its principal provisions were as follows : — The church 
was promised freedom, especially with regard to the election of 
bishops. Feudal abuses, as to reliefs, wardships, marriages, and 
collection of debts, were remedied. No aids or scutages were 
to be collected unless by consent of the common council of the 
realm, except in certain cases. The common council was to 
consist of the archbishops, bishops, abbots, and greater barons, 
summoned individually, and of the lesser barons summoned 
through the sheriffs. For justice, the court of common pleas 
was to sit in some fixed place ; judges were to ride the circuit 
four times a year ; justice was not to be refused or sold ; no 
freeman was to be punished without trial by his peers, or 
against the law of the land. In commerce, merchants were 
to go and come freely, weights and measures to be uniform, 
and all rivers to be open to navigation. London and all other- 
towns were to have their ancient liberties and customs. Besides 
these provisions, the forest laws were to be reformed, the exac- 
tions of the crown with regard to purveyance limited, the foreign 
mercenaries dismissed, and a body of twenty-five barons, including 
the mayor of London, was to see that the charter was observed. 

The king returned to Windsor in great disgust, brooding 
over plans of vengeance. He tried to collect a new army, and 

„. .. w had recourse to the pope. The nobles met at 

rvi ar. Oxford and Northampton, and sought assistance 

from France. They offered to acknowledge Philip's son Louis, 

who had married John's niece, Blanche of Castile, as king of 

England. But the barons were defeated at Rochester, and 



a.d. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 4^3 

Innocent used all the artillery of the church to assist John. 
In January 1216, the king marched northwards, to put down 
the rebellion. Fire and desolation marked his advance. 
William Longswoixl did the same for the south, and Savary 
de Mauleon for the east. By March, nearly all England, except 
London, was in the king's hands. But Louis landed in Eng- 
land on May 21, 1216, and entered London on June 2. Then, 
on July 16, Innocent III. died, and John followed him to the 
grave on October 19, at the age of 49. John was small, ugly, 
corpulent, and immoral. He murdered his nephew and lost 
his possessions in France. He justified in his career the nick- 
name, early given to him, of Lackland. He was one of the 
worst of the English kings. It is not to his credit that his 
career incidentally assisted commerce both at home and abroad, 
and that his intolerable tyranny favoured the development 
of law and order. 

Dante, when he introduces us to Henry III. of England, in 
Ptugatory, calls him the king of the simple life, and gives us 
a pleasant idea of him. This is a contrast to the „ 

English historians, who represent him as vain, ex- 
travagant, and false, hated and despised. The probability is 
that Dante was right, that Henry was greater than his con- 
temporaries believed him to be, and that Englishmen regarded 
him too much from their own point of view. He is admitted, 
even by them, to have been pious and personally courageous. 
He reigned for fifty-six years, one of the longest reigns in 
English history, from 1216 to 1272, covering nearly the whole 
of the thirteenth century, which is regarded by some historians as 
the most brilliant period of modern times. His reign falls natu- 
rally into four divisions — the first of eleven years (1216-1227), 
before he came of age; the second of thirty-one years (1227- 
1258), called the period of his misgovernment ; the third of 
seven years (1258-1265), the period of revolution and civil war; 
and the fourth of seven years (1265-1272), ending with his death. 
A few days after King John had been buried in the cathedral 
of Worcester, Henry, then nine years of age, was proclaimed 
king in the abbey church of Gloucester, and was crowned by 
the papal legate, Cardinal Gualo, after he had taken the oath 
and acknowledged the pope as suzerain. His ministers were 
William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, who was regent and 
represented the English party; Gualo, the papal legate; Peter 
des Roches, who favoured the foreign party; and Hubert de 
Burgh, who was justiciar. The Great Charter was reissued, 



424 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1189 to 

omitting, among others, the clauses which made the consent of 
the great council necessary for taxation, and established a council 
of twenty-five. A foreign prince was in England, acknowledged 
as king by many of the barons, but, now that the hated John 
was dead, the strength of the king's party grew every day. On 

May 20, 1217, Louis was defeated in the battle of 
Lincoln* Lincoln, and three hundred of his adherents were 

made prisoners. Shortly afterwards followed the 
battle of Sandwich, in which Eustace the Monk, with sixty ships, 
was defeated by Hubert de Burgh with forty. By the treaty of 
Lambeth, Louis received 10,000 marks and returned to France. 
On May 17, 1220, Henry, now a boy of thirteen, was crowned 
again at Westminster by Stephen Langton, archbishop of Oanter- 

bury. Langton had been sent back to England 
o^Henrv ^ Pope Honorius III., and before that took 

place William Marshall had died and been suc- 
ceeded as regent by Hubert de Burgh, the justiciar, and Gualo 
had made way himself for Pandulf, a more tyrannical and 
overbearing character, while Peter des Roches was the king's 
guardian. Also the foundation-stone had been laid of a new 
abbey at Westminster, and the bones of Becket had been 
placed in a gorgeous shrine, so that a new epoch seemed to 
be opening for England. Discontent and dissension still con- 
tinued, but Langton and de Burgh worked hard for order and 
good government. Langton obtained a promise from the pope 
that, during his life, no foreign legate should reside in England, 
and Pandulf left the country. And, in 1224, Fulke de Breaute, 
the leader of John's foreign mercenaries, who had acquired for 
himself great wealth and position, was defeated by de Burgh 
and driven from the kingdom. In the same year Louis VIII. 
became king of France, and war between him and the English 
naturally broke out, lasting two years, but leaving Henry in 
possession of Gascony. 

In 1227, at the age of twenty, Henry became of age. The 
government was wisely administered by Hubert de Burgh, the 
great justiciar. Peter des Roches went on a crusade for four 
years, and even the death of Stephen Langton in 1228 did not 
produce much mischief, except that, in the year following, a 
demand of a tax of one tenth on all personal property was made 
by the pope and was consented to by the clergy. But in 1232 
des Roches returned from the crusade, persuaded Henry to 
dismiss de Burgh as being too powerful, took his place, and 
proceeded to fill the offices of state with foreigners from his own 



a.d. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 425 

country of Poitou. A new leader was required for the English 
and constitutional party, and this was found in the person of 
Richard, earl of Pembroke, the son of the famous Dismissal of 
William. Henry was weak enough to attack him Hubert de 
with Flemish and Poitevin mercenaries, and a civil Burgh, 
war broke out, in which the feelings of the English were entirely 
against the king. But Richard, with the help of the Welsh, de- 
feated the king's troops ; and in 1234, Edward Rich, archbishop of 
Canterbury, persuaded the king to dismiss des Roches, and his 
nephew Peter of Rivaulx. They went to Italy, and served the 
pope, but in 1239 des Roches returned to Winchester, and died 
there. Richard was killed by the treachery of a doctor in 1234, 
and Henry mourned bitterly at his death. But his brother, 
Gilbert Marshall, took his place ; Hubert de Burgh regained his 
power, and was assisted by Sir Philip Basset, and the great 
Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln, the friend of Simon de Montfort, 
and of the Franciscan and Dominican Friars. In 1236, Henry 
married Eleanor, the second daughter of Raimund Berengar 
of Provence, sister of the queen of France ; and the Emperor 
Frederic II. married Henry's lovely sister, Isabella. 

The fatal effects of the submission of John to the pope now 
began to appear. Pope Gregory IX., the successor of Honorius 
III., whose conduct towards Frederick II. we have 
already described, began to treat England with Exactions 
similar severity. He filled the sees and benefices 
with foreigners, and appropriated the church revenues, so that 
his representatives in England were ill-treated and even jkilled, 
and his bulls trodden under foot. The needy brothers and 
friends of Queen Eleanor regarded England in a similar way, 
and our island was exposed to the ravages of foreigners. Among 
them were the four sons of the Count de la Marche, who had 
married the widowed Queen Mother, Isabella ; and Richard, 
earl of Cornwall, the king's brother, who had married the 
queen's sister, Sancha, after his return from the crusades, and 
the great Simon de Montfort, the distinguished patriot, who 
had married Eleanor, the king's sister, the widow of William 
Marshall, at this time seemed to side with the foreign and 
papal party. Matters became worse under. Pope Innocent IV. 
In 1241, Boniface of Savoy, uncle of the queen, though utterly 
unfit for the post, was made archbishop of Canterbury. In 
1242, Henry undertook an expedition to Poitou in alliance 
with his step-father. The French and English armies met at 
Taillebourg, but little fighting took place, as the English de- 



426 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1189 to 

camped in the night. Henry returned to England with a 
number of Poitevins, but Poitou was lost. At the council of 
Lyons in 1245, the English nobles and people made a solemn 
complaint against papal exactions, and Grosseteste repeated it 
at Rome in 1250, the year of the death of the great Emperor 
Frederick II., the wonder of the world. 

The necessities of the crown proved to be the beginnings of 

popular government. In 1254, the knights from each shire were 

The summoned to meet for the purpose of levying and 

Parliament aid. As we have before seen, Henry accepted the 

of 1254. crown of Sicily from the pope for his son Edmund, 

which led to great expense, and Richard of Cornwall was elected 

king of the Romans, which caused more. In 1257, Henry, 

already deeply in debt, demanded an aid for the conquest of 

Sicily, and this led to the revolution of which Simon de 

Montfort made himself the head, earning an undying name in 

the history of England. 

In 1258, Henry consented to the summoning of a Parliament 
at Oxford, and to the appointment of twenty-four commissioners, 
The barons and bishops, twelve chosen by himself and 

Provisions twelve by the barons, to inquire into the grievances 
of Oxford. of the kingdom. The Parliament which met at 
Oxford was called the Mad Parliament, and by it resolutions 
called the Provisions of Oxford were passed. They were six in 
number. The first established the commission of twenty-four, 
which has just been mentioned, the second appointed another 
commission of twenty-four to treat with the king, the third re- 
quired a council of fifteen to be elected by four barons out of the 
first twenty-four to give the king advice, and the fourth estab- 
lished a body of twelve men to meet the council of fifteen at 
least three times a year, and this was to constitute a Parliament. 
The two last provisions determined that the castles of the king 
should be placed in the hands of Englishmen, and that the chief 
justice, the treasurer, the chancellor, and the sheriffs should 
hold office for one year only, and then give an account of them- 
selves. In the following year, the provisions of Westminster 
were passed, to remedy the special grievances of the barons, 
the bad administration of justice in feudal as well as royal 
courts, and the excessive power of the sheriffs. 

Henry was obliged to consent to the Provisions of Oxford, 
but turned for assistance to the king of France, Louis IX., 
and to the pope. He surrendered to Louis his empty claims 
to Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Poitou, and 



a.b. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 427 

did homage for what he possessed of Aquitaine. By the leave 
of the barons, he went to France, and spent six months in the 
Louvre and St. Denis. In April 1261, Pope 
Alexander IV. issued a bull which condemned the f \ . ise 
Provisions of Oxford and released Henry from his 
oath to preserve them, and this was confirmed by the next pope, 
Urban IV. In 1263, war broke out between the king and the 
barons, under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, who was 
supported by the citizens of London. Matters were not im- 
proved by the fact that Louis, called in to arbitrate, by a decision 
called the Mise of Amiens, declared all the Provisions illegal, 
and that the pope countenanced this by a fresh bull. A 
battle took place at Lewes on May 14, 1264, in which the king 
was entirely defeated. The result of this was 
an arrangement called the Mise of Lewes, bv f Jattle ot 

L1GW6S 

which the matters in dispute were to be settled by 
fresh arbitration. The king was bound to confine himself to 
native councillors, and Prince Edward, the eldest son of the king, 
and his cousin Henry of Almaine, son of Richard, king of the 
Romans, were kept by the barons as hostages. 

A Parliament was now summoned, which was composed of 
four knights from each shire, and a new constitution was drawn 
up. Three electors appointed a council of nine, ^he 
without whose advice the king could not act, and Parliament 
who should appoint the ministers of state. In °f 1265. 
1265, the first regular Parliament met, which was composed of 
barons, bishops, and abbots, two knights from each shire, and 
two barons from certain towns, this being the first time that 
representatives of the shires and counties had sat together. 

Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, was now regent and pro- 
tector of England. Queen Eleanor did her best to find adherents 
for the disgraced king in France, and mercenaries 
were hired in Flanders, but the popular party ^3 m ° n , e 
forbade the pope's legate, Cardinal Guido of 
Sabina, to land in England, and he was forced to return to Rome, 
where he became pope under the name of Clement IV. But the 
royal party received a powerful ally in Gilbert of Clare, earl of 
Gloucester, whose father had been a bitter enemy of Simon, and 
he was soon joined by others. The result was 
the battle of Evesham, fought on August 4, 1265, etoSuuii 
in which Simon was defeated and killed. Simon 
deserves the reputation which he has always had in the history 
of England. He was very religious, a friend of the friars, but 



428 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1189 to 

a persecutor of the Jews. After his death he was reverenced 
by the people as a saint, and was regarded as " Simon the 
Righteous," who, by his death, made England free. His great 
achievements were that he placed the administration of England 
in the hands of Englishmen, and that he conceived and executed 
the idea of a Parliament representing all classes and interests of 
the people. The battle of Evesham was ruin to Montfort's party. 
The city of London had to submit, and the countess of Leicester 
had to retire to France. Queen Eleanor returned in triumph to 
Windsor. The remaining adherents of Simon took refuge in the 
Castle of Kenilworth, but a civil war raged until, at last, by the 
influence of the legate and the earl of Gloucester, peace was 
arranged on terms which bear the name of the " Dictum de Kenil- 
worth," by which Henry was restored to his authority. An 
Royal amnesty was proclaimed to the rebels on payment 

Authority of a fine, the Provisions were annulled, but the 
restored. authority of Magna Oharta and the charter of the 

forest was established, and in the following year, 1267, the 
Statute of Marlborough re-enacted almost all the Provisions of 
Westminster. In June 1268, Prince Edward and his brother, 
together with a hundred and fifty knights, took the cross from 
the hands of the papal legate. Henry III. died on November 
20, 1272. He was a pious, God-fearing man, who supported the 
clergy and led a pure life, but he was deficient in the qualities 
of a statesman, and was much influenced by those around him, 
so that he became uncertain in his policy and extravagant in 
his way of living, and often found himself in pecuniary diffi- 
culties. The simplicity of life attributed to him by Dante 
must refer rather to his personal character than to his public 
actions. 

Prince Edward heard of his father's death whilst he was stay- 
ing with Prince Charles of Anjou in Sicily, on his return from 
the crusade. He did not hasten his return, but 
Long^hinks. P assed through Italy and France, visiting Pope 
Gregoiw X., the learned doctors of Padua, and 
the rich merchants of Milan, and defeating the count of Chalons 
in a tournament in Burgundy. Indeed, he was not crowned at 
Westminster till August 1274. He is, perhaps, the greatest of 
our English kings. He knew that England required good laws 
and a strong administrator, but he knew that a powerful govern- 
ment could not exist without the co-operation of the whole 
country, and he carefully refrained from increasing his own 
power, which he might easily have done, at the expense of 



a.d. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 429 

popular government. He adopted the position of a national 
king, that is, of a leader of the nation, depending on national 
support, but in Scotland he maintained the position of a feudal 
lord. Like Victor Emmanuel of Italy, the " Re Galantuomo," 
he made " keep troth ! " his guiding maxim. He was unselfish 
and truthful, hardworking, religious, and affectionate. His life 
was frugal and simple ; he loved field sports, but at the same time 
was a patron of art and was fond of literature. His chief advisers 
were his chancellor, Robert Burnell, and Accursi, the Italian 
jurist of Bologna. In appearance he was tall and well made, 
and his long legs earned for him the appellation of " Long- 
shanks." 

Until the year 1290, he was chiefly engaged in conquering 
Wales, and passing some important legislation, the chief object 
of which was to remedy the abuses of feudalism. 
The Statute of Wales was passed in 1284. It in- J^yST* 
troduced English laws, reformed the administra- 
tion, and divided the territory of Llewellyn into counties, whilst 
it provided for the maintenance of some Welsh customs. It 
favoured the building of castles and the settlement of English in 
many large towns. Edward's son was made Prince of Wales in 
1301. The legislation, although it had definite ends in view, 
was spread over the whole period. In 1275, the principle of 
customs was confirmed by a statute giving the crown half a 
mark on every sack of wool and a mark on each last of hides 
exported. The king also raised money by compelling persons 
holding land of twenty pounds a year and upwards to become 
knights and to pay the fees. In 1278 commis- Taxation 
sioners inquired by what title (Quo Warranto ?) and Legis- 
landowners held property or jurisdiction once lation. 
belonging to the crown, and in this way many royal rights 
were recovered. In 1279, the important Statute of Mortmain 
forbade the grant of lands to corporations. In 1285, a second 
Statute of Westminster was passed, which was really a code of 
existing English law, a first statute having been passed in 1275. 
Besides, it added some important improvements, established and 
regulated the practice of entailing property, improved the system 
of itinerant judges, and ordered that people dwelling in the 
country should be answerable for robberies done in their dis- 
trict. The gates of towns were to be shut from sunset to sun- 
rise, and other precautions taken against robbers and high- 
waymen ; the Assize of Arms was revived, by which every man 
between the ages of fifteen and sixty was to have armour 



430 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. H89 to 

according to his rank, reviewed twice a year. In 1290 the 
important statute called Quia Emptores put an end to the split- 
ting up of property by subinfeudation. In the same year, 
Edward banished the Jews from the kingdom, chiefly because of 
their practice of usury and their habit of clipping the coinage. 

The second half of Edward's reign, from 1290 to 1307, was 

taken up with trouble in Scotland, Wales, and France, and the 

perfecting of the English constitution. Scotland 

Succession was a ^ ^ s ^ me divided i llto Lothian, which was 
part of the old kingdom of Northumberland, and 
was settled mainly by Normans ; Strathclyde, inhabited by 
British; and Greater Scotland in the north. In 1290, after 
the deaths of Alexander III. and his little granddaughter, 
" The Maid of Norway," there were three serious claimants to 
the Scottish crown — John Balliol, Robert Bruce, and John 
Hastings, all descended from David, earl of Huntingdon, who 
was the brother of William the Lion. Edward decided for 
John Balliol, but his insistence on his feudal rights as Balliol's 
overlord produced constant friction, and when war 

France"* bl ' oke out between Edward and Philip IV. of 
France, owing to the French occupation of Gascony, 
an alliance was formed between Scotland and France, and Balliol 
repudiated his allegiance. The troubles with Scotland and 
Fiance made it necessary for the king to raise money, and for 
that purpose a model Parliament was summoned in 1295, con- 
sisting of spiritual lords, lay peers, representatives of the lower 
clergy, two knights elected from each county, and two repre- 
sentatives from each borough and from each city. 

To return to the affairs of Scotland. At Easter, 1296, an 

army was collected at Newcastle, consisting of 4000 horse and 

30,000 foot soldiers, while a considerable fleet 

Invasion sailed to the Gironde under Edmund of Lancaster 

and Hugh of Lincoln. On April 27, the Scotch 

were entirely defeated at Dunbar. The coronation stone was 

carried off from Scone to Westminster. Balliol was deposed, 

and imprisoned in the Tower of London, and Earl Warenne was 

made governor of Scotland. But in Gascony, the English were 

entirely beaten, many nobles were taken prisoners, and a large 

part of the country was recovered by the crown of France. 

This was 'accompanied by troubles at home. The new pope, 

Boniface VIII., had issued, before the Scottish expedition, a bull, 

known as Clericis Laicos, forbidding the king to levy taxes 

on the clergy, or the clergy to pay them. Hence, in 1297, 



a.d. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 431 

Archbishop Winchelsey refused to pay taxes. Edward replied by 
declaring the clergy outlaws, and Boniface, finding Philip IV. 
also resolute, had to explain away his bull. But Dispute 
Edward had offended not only the clergy by his with the 
taxation, but also the barons by his popular reforms, Church, 
and the merchants by his seizure of their wool. The constable 
of England, Bohun, earl of Hereford, and the marshal, Bigod, 
earl of Norfolk, refused to go to Gascony. Edward, ostensibly 
reconciled to the clergy, exacted an aid, and went to Flanders 
to gain assistance against the French. But Bohun and Bigod 
opposed the collection of the aid, and, supported by Archbishop 
Winchelsey, demanded a confirmation of the Great Charter and 
of the Forest Charter, and the addition of articles forbidding 
the exaction of taxes without the consent of Parliament. 

The Scotch were encouraged by the ill success of Edward in 
Gascony and by the revolt of the English nobles, and they found a 
leader in William Wallace, who, from being the son 
of a humble gentleman, rose to become a national wliia 1 ^ 
hero. He was assisted by William Douglas, and 
Robert Bruce, the grandson of the pretender. In September 

1297, Warenne was entirely defeated at Cambuskenneth. The 
news reached Edward in Flanders, so that he determined to make 
peace with Philip IV., and devote himself to the reduction of 
Scotland. He also satisfied his discontented ip^g Q 0n . 
nobles by issuing a document at Ghent, which is firmation 
called the " Confirmation of the Charters," that no of the 

" aids, tasks, or prises," except those which were Charters, 
customary, should be exacted without the consent of Parliament. 
This is a great landmark in English history. Peace at home 
being thus secured, William Wallace was defeated at Falkirk in 

1298. But the intervention of Philip IV. and Boniface VIII. 
hindered Edward's advance. Philip's quarrel with Boniface, 
however, enabled Edward to flout the Pope's pretensions to be 
lord of Scotland. He also strengthened his position by marry- 
ing Margaret, Philip's sister, and betrothing his son, Edward, 
to Philip's daughter, Isabella. Returning to Scotland, he forced 
Comyn and the chiefs of the national party to submit, but Wallace 
still held out. A price was set upon his head, and, in August 
1305, he was betrayed and brought to England. He was tried, 
condemned for high treason, dragged to Smithfield at the tail of 
a horse, and executed. His head was cut off and exhibited on 
London Bridge, while various parts of his body were exposed at 
Newcastle, Berwick, Perth, and Aberdeen. The task of defend- 



432 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. H89 to 

ing Scotland now fell to the charge of Robert Bruce. Betrayed 
by John Oomyn, he murdered him in the Franciscan church at 
Dumfries on January 29, 1306, and was crowned 
g er king of Scotland at Scone in March. But before 

Edward could reach the Scottish frontier Bruce 
was defeated on June 26, 1306, at Methven, by Aymer de 
Valence, earl of Pembroke, and had to fly for his life. Edward 
was preparing for a fourth expedition when he died at Burgh- 
on-Sands, near Carlisle, on July 7, 1307. He was the great 
lawgiver of the English nation ; he called the English Parlia- 
ment into existence, and gave it the control of taxation. He 
won for England a great position on the continent, but he 
secured the undying hatred of Scotland, which was not appeased 
for many years. 

His son, Edward II., who reigned for twenty,years (1 307-1327) 
was a man of very different character. He was idle, fond of 
pleasure, extravagant, and obstinate. He had some 
w ' refined and cultivated tastes, but he did not possess 

his father's manliness of character or strength of intellect. 
He was under the influence of unworthy favourites, the first 
of whom was Piers Gaveston, a Gascon knight, who had been 
banished by Edward I., but was recalled to the court on his 
death. In 1310, Parliament was obliged to appoint 
| . or s Lords Ordainers, the chief of whom was Arch- 
bishop Winchelsey, to regulate the royal house- 
hold and the government. Ordinances were published in 1311 
by which the government was transferred from the king to 
the barons, who had the nomination of the great officers of 
state, and power over war and peace. Parliament was to be 
summoned every year. Edwaixl recalled Gaveston, who had 
been banished under the Ordinances, but he was attacked by 
the barons, excommunicated by Winchelsey, besieged in Scar- 
borough Castle, and executed on Blacklow Hill. The govern- 
ment of the barons was not a success. Bruce acquired great 
Battle of power in Scotland, and, in 1314, at the battle of 
Bannock- Bannockburn, the English were entirely defeated, 
burn. which led to the practical independence of Scotland, 

and to risings in Wales and Ireland against English rule. 
More powerful than the king, at this time, was Thomas of 
Lancaster, the largest landed proprietor in England, related 
to the royal houses of both England and Fiance. He was 
the son of Edmund, brother of Edward I., who once had the 
opportunity of becoming king of Sicily, and of Blanche of 



a.d. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 433 

Artois, granddaughter of Louis VIII. He had received from 
his father the earldoms of Lancaster, Leicester, and Derby, 
and, owing to his marriage with a member of the family de 
Lacy, claimed the reversion of those of Lincoln and Salisbury. 
In 1316 he became president of the royal council, but the other 
barons would not submit to him, and civil war broke out. In 

1317 Robert Bruce was defeated, and his brother slain at 
Dundalk, and English rule was established in Ireland ; but in 

1318 he captured Berwick. 

The place of Gaveston was now taken by the two Hugh 
Dispensers, father and son, who became favourites of the king. 
The English nobles took up arms against them, 
and they were banished, but divisions among the Me'Barons 
barons gave the king his opportunity, and in 
1322 they were recalled. Lancaster and his supporters, Clifford 
and Hereford, were defeated at Boroughbridge, and Lancaster, 
the possessor of five earldoms, was beheaded at Pomfret. He 
was not a better man than Edward, but he was regarded as a 
martyr by the people, and was reverenced as a saint. Edward 
had the good sense to throw himself upon the support of Parlia- 
ment, and to declare that what concerned the whole nation 
should be treated of by a Parliament fully representative of the 
nation. During the remaining four years of his reign, however, 
England was ruled by the Dispensers. 

A truce was made with Scotland, and, in 1324, Charles IV., 
the new king of France, summoned Edward to do homage to him 
under pain of the forfeiture of his estates. Queen Deposition 
Isabella went to France instead, and Prince and Death 
Edward did homage in the place of his father, of the King. 
But Isabella and her lover Mortimer formed a conspiracy 
against the king, and returned to England in September 1326. 
In January 1327, Edward was deposed, and his son was pro- 
claimed king in his place. Edward, rejected by his wife 
and son, was carried about from castle to castle, and was, at 
last, killed in a barbarous manner at Berkeley Castle, on 
September 27, 1327. He was not a bad man, but he was weak, 
and he did not succeed in securing the support of either barons, 
clergy, or people, and thus he fell. His son, 
Edward III., reigned for fifty years (1327-1377). Edward 1IL 
He was not a very great king, and was far inferior to his grand- 
father ; but by his bravery, self-assertion, and magnificence he 
gained a distinguished name in English history, and has pro- 
bably a greater reputation than he deserved. He was respon- 

2 E 



434 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1189 to 

sible for the war with France, which was unjust in its origin, 
and did the country much harm. But he took care to be on good 
terms with his Parliaments, and assisted the constitutional de- 
velopment of his country. He fostered English commerce and 
manufactures, and attempted to establish a powerful commercial 
union, which was to include the south of France, England, and 
the Netherlands. His long reign may be divided into four 
parts — first, the regency, which lasted three years (1327-1330); 
then the troubles with Scotland, from 1331 to 1336; then the 
war with France, from 1337 to 1360; and lastly, the constitu- 
tional struggle, which darkened the last seventeen years of his 
reign, from 1361 to 1377. 

The first act of Edward's reign was to put an end to the war 
with Scotland, by acknowledging its independence under King 
Treaty of Robert Bruce. This was effected by the treaty of 
Northamp- Northampton, which was concluded in March 
ton- 1328. Bruce died in the following year, and was 

buried in the abbey church of Dunfermline. His heart was to be 
taken by James Douglas to Jerusalam, but on the way Douglas 
was killed by the Moors at Granada : the heart, however, was saved 
and buried in Melrose Abbey. Bruce was succeeded by his son, 
David, a child of eight years old, who was crowned and anointed 
in Scone. Mortimer and Isabella meanwhile misgoverned Eng- 
land, but in 1330, Edward, who was already the father of a 
son by his Dutch wife, determined to take the government into 
his own hands. Mortimer was hanged at Tyburn, and Queen 
Isabella was confined for the rest of her life at Castle Rising. 
Peace reigned in England, but, in 1332, Edward Balliol rose 
against Bruce, defeated his troops, and was crowned in Perth as 
a vassal of the English crown. The Scotch did not approve of 
this, and asserted their independence, but they were defeated on 
Battle of ^ iu y 18, 1333, at the battle of Halidon Hill, in 
Halidon which Bannockburn was avenged. The flower of 

Hill. the Scottish chivalry, the Regent Douglas, the 

earls of Ross, Lennox, Carrick, and Sutherland, were among the 
slain, which are said to have numbered 30,000. Berwick was 
taken ; David Bruce, and his wife Johanna, Edward's sister, fled 
to Holland ; Balliol was recognised as king. But Balliol had 
soon to retire to Berwick, whilst the heads of the national party, 
Moray and William Douglas of Liddesdale, made an alliance 
with France. This led to a border war between Scotland and 
England, which lasted for a long time. 

Parliamentary government now received a further develop- 



a.d. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 435 

merit by the division of Parliament into two houses. The knights 
of the shire first deliberated apart from the lords and then 
with the burgesses, so that, by 1341, the division Growth of 
into two houses was complete. The division of the House of 
Parliament into two houses, instead of three, as Commons, 
in France, was favourable to the unity of the realm. The 
knights of the shire were connected by birth with the nobles, 
but their interests lay with the people, and by sitting in the 
lower house they prevented the severance of classes, and the 
union of the clergy and the nobles against the people. 

What is called the Hundred Years' War, between France and 
England, broke out in 1337. It arose from the help given by 
the French king to Bruce against Balliol, from his The Hun- 
seizure of certain English lands in Guienne, and dred Years' 
from his interference in the wool trade between War begins. 
England and Flanders. Edward had, as allies, Robert of Artois, 
a vassal of Philip, who had been banished from France ; the 
famous James von Arteveld, the brewer of Ghent ; the Emperor 
Louis IV., the Bavarian, who was at enmity with the pope, 
and the princes of the empire in Brabant, Guelders, Juliers, 
and Cologne. Philip was assisted by the count of Flanders 
and the Scots. In 1340, Edward took the title of king of 
France, to which he had no right whatever. It was based 
upon the principle that, although the Salic Law forbade a 
woman to reign in France, it did not prevent a woman from 
passing on her claim to her son, provided such a son was 
born in the lifetime of his grandfather. Thus, Edward III. 
was the grandson of Philip IV., the elder son of Philip III., 
while Philip VI. was the son of Charles of Valois, who was 
the younger son. In this year was fought the battle of Sluys, 
in which the English obtained command of the Battles of 
sea, after which a truce was made between the Sluys and 
two countries. The next great event of the war Crecy. 
was the battle of Crecy in 1346, in which the victory was due to 
the efficiency of the English archers and the great good discipline 
of the English soldiers, as compared to the feudal levies of 
Philip — in other words, to the steadfastness and tenacity of the 
English, compared with the lighter and less solid character of 
the French. When Napoleon saw that he was defeated at 
Waterloo, he said, with a sigh, " It has always been the same 
since Crecy." In the same year, the Scotch were defeated at 
Neville's Cross, and David Bruce was taken prisoner. When 
Calais was taken in August 1347, Edward III. stood at the 



436 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1 189 to 

height of liis power. In this year he founded the Order of the 

Garter, the first order of chivalry in the world, whose only rival 

was the Golden Fleece — its rival no longer. But just at this time 

occurred the terrible calamity of the Black Death, 

Deat? laCk wllicl1 killed a large part of the population of 

England and produced important economic results. 

Owing to the scarcity of labourers, and to the large profits to be 

derived from the trade in wool, sheep farming was introduced 

on a large scale, and the system of leasehold farming began. 

Landowners could not afford to pay labourers to work their 

estates, and therefore broke them up into holdings, which they 

stocked and let out to tenants for rent. 

Meanwhile a war of succession was raging in Brittany, 
which was decided in favour of the English ; Count Charles of 
Blois, Philip's nephew, was defeated and imprisoned in the 
Tower. A Spanish fleet, which took advantage of the war 
between France and England to attempt piratical excesses, was 
defeated at Winchelsea in the summer of 1350. During these 
years, several important statutes were passed. The Statute of 
Labourers (1351) forbade labourers to receive higher wages than 
had been paid them before the Black Death. The Statute of 
Provisors protected the patrons of livings against the encroach- 
ments of the pope. The Statute of Treasons (1352) defined 
the crime of treason, the heavy penalties of which had hitherto 
been inflicted with excessive frequency. Henceforward some 
act designed against the king or his heir, or their wives, or the 
king's eldest daughter, or one of certain specified minor offences 
had to be proved. The first Statute of Praemunire (1353) for- 
bade the prosecution of suits in foreign courts, such as the 
pope's. In the same year the Act of the Staples settled the 
number and site of the staple towns to which the wool export 
was restricted, and confirmed the privileges of the merchants. 

In 1355 the war with Fiance was renewed. The Black Prince 
wasted the south of France from Bordeaux to Narbonne, but, on 
the other hand, the Scotch, who were allies of the French, 
captured Berwick. This was avenged in the following year by 
the " Burnt Candlemas," a name given to the devastation of the 
Battle of country round that border city by Edward III., 

Poitiers and by the great battle of Poitiers, in which King 

Treaty of John of France was taken prisoner. In 1357, 

Bretigny. peace was made with Scotland, and King David 

was released from prison, and in 1360 the peace of Bretigny put 

an end, for a time, to the Avar with France. In this treaty the 



a.d. 1377] HISTORY OF ENGLAND 437 

king of England renounced all claims to the throne of France 
and to the Plantagenet possessions north of the Loire, comprising 
Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Normandy. The French king 
ceded to Edward the duchy of Aquitaine, Ponthieu, and Calais in 
full sovereignty, and was released on promising to pay a heavy 
ransom, which was of great service to the exhausted coffers of 
the English crown. 

After the peace of Bretigny, the war with France slumbered 
for nine years, but the time was occupied with important events, 
both foreign and domestic. In 1361, Edward the Black Prince, 
the hero of Poitiers and the darling of the English people, was 
married to Johanna of Kent. In 1362, Parliament enacted that 
no subsidy should be granted by merchants on the 
exportation of wool without the consent of Parlia- roSsfation 
ment, and the exportation of manufactured wool, 
as well as of butter and cheese and similar commodities, was 
forbidden. It was also ordered that the English language should 
take the place of Norman-French in the law courts. In 1366, 
Parliament repudiated the papal claims to tribute admitted by 
John in 1213. In Ireland the Statute of Kilkenny forbade 
English colonists in Ireland to intermarry with the Irish or to 
act as foster parents or sponsors to Irish children, or to adopt 
the Irish language, dress, or laws. All these provisions showed 
the growing strength of the national consciousness and confirmed 
the principle of " England for the English." The The Black 
Black Prince reigned in Gascony, and, in 1267, Prince in 
undertook an expedition to help Pedro the Cruel, Spain. 
king of Castile, against Henry of Trastamare, who was helped 
by the French. He won an important victory in the battle of 
Navaretta, and Pedro was restored to the throne. But war cannot 
be conducted without expense, and the Gascons complained at 
having to pay for an enterprise in which they had no concern. 
In 1369, they appealed to the king of France, and the Hundred 
Years' War broke out again. The Constable du Guesclin now 
became the hero of France, and the English had to give way. 
In 1375, a truce was made which left only Calais, Cherbourg, 
Brest, Bayonne, and Bordeaux in English hands. 

The year 1376 is memorable in the history of our country for 
both good and ill. The Black Prince, a worthy successor of 
Edward I., was in favour of popular government 
and opposed to the autocratic spirit of his uncle, p ,."' . 
John of Gaunt. By his influence, the Good 
Parliament, as it is called, established the principle of im 



438 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1189-137? 

peachment, by which Parliament for centuries controlled the 
king's ministers. The ministers of the king and others who 
are accused of high treason are accused by the Commons and 
tried before the Lords. In this manner, Lyons and Lord 
Latimer and Alice Ferrers were found guilty and were punished. 
But, just at the moment when the Black Prince had set this 
seal to his reputation, he died, after a lingering illness, from 
the fever which he had contracted in the south of France. He 
died on June 8, 1376, and was followed to the grave, on June 
21, 1377, by his father, Edward III., who was succeeded by 
his grandson, Richard II., a child ten years old. This year 
was also made memorable by the return of the pope from 
Avignon to Rome, and by the trial of the reformer John 
Wycliffe at Saint Paul's before Archbishop Sudbury. 



CHAPTER XI. 

FRANCE, A.D. 1180-1350— GERMANY AND ITALY, A.D. 1272-1347. 

Philip II. of France, dignified by his contemporaries with 
the name of Augustus, the son of King Louis VII., succeeded 
to the French throne in September 1180, and 
reigned for forty-three years. He was the most Augustus 
distinguished of the Capetian kings who had 
lived rip to that time. His main object was to establish the 
unity of his country and the power of the crown, and, for 
that purpose, he tried to overthrow the predominating influ- 
ence of England. Ten years after his accession, in March 
1190, shortly after the death of his wife, he undertook an 
expedition to Acre with Richard of England, but he was 
back again in his own country by Christmas 1191. He took 
full advantage of Richard's imprisonment and of the interdict 
pronounced over John. Immediately after his return from 
Palestine he married Ingeborg, a Danish princess, but he 
divorced her shortly after the wedding, and married Agnes of 
Meran. For this, Pope Innocent III. pronounced an interdict 
against him, similar to that which he pronounced against John. 
After a long struggle Philip had to give way, and to promise 
to take Ingeborg back, upon which the Pope removed the 
interdict. But Agnes remained his real wife till her death in 
1201, and Ingeborg was not received by her husband until 
1213, when she had been for seventeen years a prisoner in 
Etampes. Meanwhile, Normandy, Brittany, and other French 
possessions of the Plantagenets fell into his hands ; the weakness 
of England became the strength of France. Philip obtained a 
position in France which no French monarch had held since 
the first Callings. The important battle of Bouvines, which 
we have already mentioned, confirmed his atithority, and Paris 
became the capital of the kingdom. He also made con- 
quests in the south, and was just preparing for a crusade 
against the Albigenses when he died in July 1223, and was 

439 



440 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. liso to 

succeeded by his son, Louis VIII., who, however, died himself 
in November 1226. 

Louis IX. succeeded to the throne at the age of eleven, and 
France was governed by his mother, Blanche of Castile. Louis 
. IX., afterwards dignified with the name of Saint, 
is one of the few good kings that France ever 
had. He always treated his mother with great respect and 
followed her advice. Notwithstanding his general modest and 
religious character, he was always able to keep his nobles in 
due subordination. A pattern of Christian chivalry, like a 
knight of the Holy Grail, the true son of his nation and his 
age, an example of domestic virtues, a wise and far-seeing 
statesman, the darling of his people, he not only deserved 
the title of Saint himself, but cast a glamour of sanctity over 
the crown of France which never left it. It was never forgotten 
that French kings were sons of Saint Louis, however much 
their private character might diverge from his standard. He 
increased his dominions rather by diplomacy than by war. 
In December 1259 he made a treaty with Henry III., which 
acknowledged his claim to Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Maine, 
and Poitou, and established a solid basis for the future monarchy 
of France. We have no space to deal with his constitutional 
reforms. He died, as we have seen, on a second crusade, 
where a church, which overlooks the ancient harbour of Carthage, 
marks the place of his decease. 

Louis IX. was succeeded by his son, Philip III., who bore 

the title of Le Hardi, and reigned from 1270 to 1283. He 

followed in the steps of his father, but was not 

Le^ardi ' fortunate in his councillors. He took as his 
principal adviser Pierre de la Brosse, a man of 
humble birth, who was hated by the nobles and the queen, 
and was eventually turned out of his offices, and hung in 
1276, though he still lives in the pages of Dante. Mean- 
while, on the death of Philip's uncle, the childless Alphonse 
of Toulouse and Poitou, almost all his territories fell in to the 
crown. In 1284, Philip became involved in a useless war 
with Castile. By marrying his son Philip to Joanna, the 
heiress of Navarre, he secured to France the eventual posses- 
sion of Navarre, Champagne, and Brie. In 1284 he was 
persuaded to undertake an expedition to conquer Aragon for 
his son, in the interest of his uncle, Charles of Anjou, the 
rival of Aragon in Sicily. He started in the spring of 1285, 
but the fleet was destroyed by Roger of Loria, the army 



a.d. 1350] FRANCE 44 1 

was decimated by sickness, and the king himself died at 
Perpignan on October 5, 1285. Although his reign is marked 
by no great event, he bore an honourable part in the building 
up of the unity of France and developing its constitution. 

His son, Philip IV., called Le Bel, who now came to the 
throne at the age of seventeen, wielded with a strong hand 
and political wisdom, but also with reckless despo- 
tism, the sceptre which Philip Augustus had sup- Be j ip 
ported by force of arms and Saint Louis by justice 
and virtue. He reigned from 1285 to 1314, and was a powerful 
personality. He was essentially a worldly man, and with his 
practical spirit dealt fatal blows both to feudalism and the 
power of the church. As we have already seen, he contended 
successfully against Edward I. of England, and he came out of 
his Flemish quarrel with an increase of dominions. His quarrel 
with Pope Boniface VIII. about the taxation of the clergy, the 
bull Clericis Laicos, and other matters, resembled the strife 
between Henry II. and Becket. In November 1302, Boniface 
issued the bull Unam Sanctam, in which he declared the supre- 
macy of the papal see over all worldly thrones. This led to open 
war, and to the attack upon Boniface by William of Nogaret 
and other French knights at Anagni, immortalised in the verse 
of Dante, the shock of which caused the pope's death. It is 
said that he dashed out his brains against the walls of his bed- 
chamber. Benedict XL, the successor of Boniface, only reigned 
for a few months, and his successor, Clement V., removed the 
papal see to Avignon and remained a passive instrument in the 
hands of Philip. Philip made war against the Flemish, but was 
beaten at Courtrai in the "Battle of Spurs," on July 11, 1302, 
peace being made two years later. The last great enterprise of 
his reign was the destruction of the Order of the Templars, one 
of the most unjust and tyrannical actions of the Middle Ages ; 
the Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, perished 
on the scaffold on March 17, 1313. Philip died at Fontaine- 
bleau on November 29, 1314; he may be regarded as the 
founder of the absolute monarchy in France, but the means 
which he employed were condemnable, and the final result was 
ruin, notwithstanding the splendour of the intervening period. 
His system reached its culmination in Louis XIV., but ended 
in the disgrace of Louis XV. and the catastrophe of his suc- 
cessor. 

Philip le Bel left three sons, Louis X., Philip V., and Charles 
IV., who all reigned, but with them the direct line of the 



442 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. iiso-1350 

Capets came to an end, the next king, Philip VI., being the son 
of Charles, count of Valois, brother of Philip IV., and the 
The last founder of the line of Valois, the house of Bourbon 

Capetian being descended from Robert, count of Clermont, 
Kings. S on of Saint Louis, and brother of Philip III. 

Louis X. died on June 4, 1316, a year and a half after his father. 
He had imprisoned his wife, Margaret of Burgundy, for infidelity, 
and had her killed in order to marry Clementine of Naples. 
He left a daughter, Joanna, by his first marriage, and his wife 
with child. Philip V., called the Tall, reigned for six years 
(1316 to 1322). He was not a bad king, but the curse of the 
Templars seemed to hang over his race. As he was taking 
measures for suppressing the Pastoureaux, a throng of peasants 
who marched through the country creating every kind of 
confusion, and driving the Jews out of France, he died suddenly 
on January 3, 1322, leaving his country in the wildest confusion. 
He was succeeded by his brother, Charles IV., who reigned 
for six more years (1322 to 1328). He continued the struggle 
with Flanders, tried to obtain the crown of the empire for 
his house, and utilised the weakness of England, under his 
brother-indaw, Edward II., for the aggrandisement of his throne, 
but his enterprises cost much money and involved heavy taxa- 
tion. He died on February 1, 1328, leaving behind him a 
daughter and a wife who was expecting her confinement. 

Philip of Valois became regent for the time, and when, three 
months later, the widowed queen gave birth to a daughter, he 

was acknowledged as king. The house of Valois 
T ® ouse was now established on the throne of France, and 

a short time before the head of the barony of 
Bourbon, the third branch of the Capetian house, had been raised 
to the dignity of duke and peer. Up to this time, the descendants 
of Hugh Capet had followed each other without a break from 
father to son for three hundred and forty years. Philip VI., 
the first king of the house of Valois, reigned from 1328 to 
1350. He inaugurated a different policy from his predecessors, 
making the crown more masterful, surrounding himself with a 

brilliant nobility, and holding a splendid court. 
N^hTf 611011 ^- e even planned a new crusade for the recovery 

of the Holy Sepulchre. The monarchy of France 
pursued an entirely different path from that of England. It had 
no king like Edward I. to bind together the common interests 
of crown, nobles, and people. In England there was no caste 
of aristocracy — the nobles were continually rising from the 



ad. 1271-1347] GERMANY AND ITALY 443 

people and descending again to be mingled with them, joining 
with the crown in a common democratic patriotism. In France 
the nobles were separated from the people, and had to be kept 
in order by the king, so that, when troubles arose, there was no 
middle class to act both as a buffer and as a cement between the 
king and the nation. Hence came the miseries of the French 
Revolution : what the Valois had begun, the Bourbons continued. 



GERMANY, A.D. 1271-1347. 

We left Germany in the troubled times of the Interregnum. 
We must now relate how order was restored to the confused 
mass and a powerful government established. 
After the death of King Richard of Cornwall, Electors, 
there was a danger lest the empire should come 
into the hands of Philip III. of France. The pope therefore 
urged the electors to a speedy choice. On January 17, 1273, 
Werner of Eppenstein, archbishop of Mainz, made a treaty with 
Duke Louis of Bavaria and the Palsgrave of the Rhine, which 
was joined by the bishops of Worms and Speier, to elect a 
worthy prince to the German throne, and the archbishops of 
Trier and Cologne soon gave their adhesion. This led to the 
definition of the college of electors — three ecclesiastics, the 
archbishops of Mainz, Cologne, and Trier, and four laymen, 
the Count Palatine, the duke of Saxony, ' the margrave of 
Brandenburg, and the king of Bohemia, if he were a German. 
A majority of the electors now chose as king Rudolf of 
Hapsburg, who had large possessions in Switzer- 
land and Alsace, and was one of the richest nobles Hapsburg 
of his time. He was elected German king on 
September 29, 1273, and founded the German empire anew. He 
was a man of untiring energy, and sound common sense. He 
was invested at Aachen with the crown of Charles the Great. 
He soon gained the favour of the pope, who recognised him as 
emperor and invited him to be crowned at Rome, commanding 
Alfonso of Castile to surrender his claims to the empire. 
Rudolf cared little for Italy, and confined his attention to con- 
solidating his power in Germany. The first adversary with 
whom he had to contend was Ottokar of Bohemia, who had the 
support of the duke of Bavaria, and there was considerable 
difficulty in persuading the Bavarians to take the side of the 
Germans against the Slavs. Similar difficulties were found in 
uniting the scattered princes of Germany in a common effort. 



444 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1271 to 

Eventually, on June 24, 1276, an imperial ban was pronounced 

against Ottokar, and war was declared. The decisive battle 

took place on the Marchfeld on August 26, 1278, 

Ma^chfeld 16 one of the most memoraDle conflicts of the Middle 
Ages. Ottokar was defeated and slain. This 
victory of German over Slav was one of the most momentous 
events in the history of Germany and of the world, and its con- 
sequences continue to the present day. 

Rudolf now set himself to consolidate his power. Bohemia 
and Moravia, which fell to the lot of Ottokar's youthful son, 
Settlement Wenzel II., were reunited with the empire, and 
of the remained under German government until 

Empire. Wenzel attained his majority in 1281. About 

the same time, Rudolf was beset by domestic calamities — by the 
death of his wife, Anna, who is said to have died of grief in 
parting with her daughter Clementina, who was married to Charles 
of Sicily, and by the drowning in the Rhine of his beloved 
second son, Hartmann, who was betrothed to the daughter of 
the king of England. However, in December 1282, Austria, 
Styria, Carniola, and the Wendish March, having been wrested 
from Ottokar, were given as fiefs to the emperor's sons, Albert 
and Rudolf, and the power of the house of Hapsburg was 
finally established. Rudolf then devoted himself to bringing 
about internal peace and to the knitting of the various parts of 
the empire together. In effecting this, he was perhaps more 
busied with petty details than with great enterprises, and we 
cannot here deal with those minute occurrences which belong 
mainly to the history of Germany. However, at Christmas, 
1289, a great festival was held at Erfurt, such as Germany had 
not seen for many a year. Thither came the princes of north 
Germany, ecclesiastical and secular, the dukes of Brunswick and 
Luneburg, of Mecklenburg and Saxony, the margrave of Branden- 
burg, the landgrave of Hesse, the burgrave of Nuremberg, and 
countless others. Strong measures were taken in the cause 
of order : nine-and-twenty robber knights were executed, and 
a large number of castles were destroyed. But there was a 
darker side to this brightness. Albert of Austria had many 
difficulties to contend with. A war broke out between him and 
Salzburg, and the weak Wenzel II. of Bohemia gave a great 
deal of trouble. The question of the succession caused the 
aged emperor serious anxiety. His eldest son, Rudolf, died 
suddenly in May 1290, while Albert had few friends, and the 
princes refused to elect him king in 1291- This was the last 



a.d. 1347] GERMANY AND ITALY 445 

blow, and the aged sovereign died on July 15. His reputation 
has steadily increased since his death. He cared little for 
outward show, for crusades, or for expeditions to Rome ; but 
by painful assiduity and conscientious labour, he placed the 
house of Hapsburg upon a firm foundation, which has preserved 
its power and authority for more than six hundred years. 

Rudolf had always a great desire to secure the succession 
of the empire to his house. But he knew that Albert was 
unpopular with the princes and could not be The 
elected emperor, and so it was not until his two Imperial 
younger sons had been the victims of an early Succession, 
death that he turned his attention to his proper heir. And it 
was found after his death that, although Albert had the imperial 
ensigns in the castle of Trif els and the Count Palatine on his side, 
yet the other lay electors were working for the king of Bohemia, 
while Mainz and Cologne were putting forward 
Adolf of Nassau, in which they were afterwards M a g Sa u 
joined by Trier. Adolf was elected German king 
at Frankfort on May 5, 1292, a chivalrous, cultivated man, but 
lord only of a small territory and unfit for the burden of empire. 
He was consecrated and crowned in Aachen on June 24, and 
then set himself to attack Albert, who was arrayed against him. 
The decisive battle did not take place till July 2, 1298, at 
Gollheim on the Donnersberg — the Thunder Mountain, the Mont 
Tonnerre of the French — on the old Roman road between Kaiser- 
slautern and Worms. It was a great cavalry struggle, in which 
personal bravery and energy went for much. Adolf did his 
best, but he was thrown from his horse and killed. His party 
was entirely defeated, and his cause lost. Albert 
was elected king on July 27, 1298, and crowned ^^burg. 
at Aachen by the archbishop of Cologne on 
August 24. He held a brilliant court at Nuremberg in 
November, and his sons Rudolf, Frederick, and Leopold were 
invested with the government of the hereditary provinces of 
Austria. But he had a powerful opponent in Pope Boniface 
VIII. , who sought the assistance of Philip IY. of France. 

Hungary and Bohemia now took part in the struggle. 
Andrew III., the last king of the Arpad stock, died on January 
14, 1301, and was succeeded by Charles Robert, r^e Crowns 
sometimes called Carobert, the son of Charles f Hungary 
Martel, the grandson of Charles of Anjou. In and 
Bohemia, Wenzel II. abdicated in favour of his son, Bohemia. 
Wenzel III. On August 4, 1306, Wenzel III. was murdered, 



446 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1271 to 

and Albert seized the vacant heritage. His son Rudolf, was 
elected king, marrying Elizabeth of Poland, the widow of 
Wenzel II. But he died on July 4, 1307, and the crown of 
Bohemia was claimed by Henry of Carinthia, the husband of 
Wenzel's daughter Ann, opposed by Frederick, the brother of 
Rudolf. But the situation was changed by a terrible event 
which happened on May 1, 1308. Rudolf, eldest son of the 
Emperor Rudolf, had, as we have seen, died young. He left a 
widow, Agnes, daughter of Ottokar, and a son, John, who was 
educated at the court of Bohemia. When John reached the age 
of fourteen, Albert summoned him to his court and brought him 
up with his cousins. But the youth saw himself set aside and 
his cousins advanced before him, and, meditating a deep revenge, 
which was stimulated by the enemies of Albert, he at last 
determined to kill his uncle. The fatal act was committed at 

the ford across the Reuss, close by the cradle castle 
Albert ° °^ ^ ie Hapsburgs. The crime caused a feeling of 

horror throughout the world, which finds its echo 
in the verse of Dante, and John is stamped in history with the 
title of " parricide." The monastery of Konigsfeld was founded 
at the scene of the murder, and there Agnes passed the rest of 
her days. John became a monk, and died in obscurity. 

Albert left behind him twenty-one children, all born of 
Elizabeth of the Tyrol, but he was succeeded by Henry VII. of 

Luxemburg, from whom Dante expected the re- 
L e b generation of Italy. At the close of the year he 

was elected at Frankfort and crowned at Aachen 
on January 6, 1309. Henry had already gained a great reputa- 
tion as a brave and chivalrous ruler, just, pious, and statesman- 
like, highly cultivated, speaking Latin, German, and excellent 
French, a handsome man of moderate stature, with light brown 
hair and a healthy complexion. He soon added Bohemia to his 
dominions, accepting the crown for his son John. But the 
great task before him was the settlement of Italy. Crossing 

the Mont Oenis on November 1, 1310, he entered 
\t°\^ m Turin, and was received with acclamation, and, 

on November 11, advanced to Asti. Here he 
received the aged Matteo Visconti, the head of the Ghibellines, as 
well as embassies from Verona, Pisa, and even Rome. After 
a month's stay at Asti, he proceeded to Milan, which he entered 
on December 23. Guido della Torre kissed his feet, and when 
he received the iron crown of Lombardy on January 6, 1311, it 
seemed as if party quarrels were at an end. But disorder soon 



ad. 1347] GERMANY AND ITALY 447 

broke out. Milan became the scene of a civil war : disorder 
raged in Cremona and Brescia. Easter Sunday was spent in 
the imperial city of Pavia, but Cremona was severely punished. 
The leaders of the revolt threw themselves at Henry's feet, but 
the walls of the city were destroyed, and she was deprived of all 
her privileges. This severity stimulated her ill-feeling against 
the king, and Padua and Yicenza remained doubtful in their 
allegiance. 

Tuscany now awaited the peacemaker, but King Robert of 
Naples, the head of the Guelfs, was an active opponent of 
the German invader. Henry hesitated to advance 
until he had pacified the north of Italy, which was t^ 11 }? an 
no easy task, and Dante in vain urged him to 
energetic action. Brescia had to be subdued, and to suffer the 
fate of Cremona. A diet held at Pavia in October 1311 had 
little effect, as Henry was master of only a small military 
force. Then, not daring to encounter the opposition of the 
Tuscan League, he turned aside to Genoa. Here he was well 
received, reconciled the quarrels of the houses of Doria and 
Spinola, and appointed Uguccione della Faggiuola imperial 
vicar. He, however, 'Suffered a severe blow by the death of 
his wife on December 13, 1311. In February 1312, he com- 
mitted himself and his court to the uncertainties of the sea, 
and, after a stormy voyage, reached the faithful imperial 
city Pisa. Here he pronounced a ban over the disobedient 
towns of Tuscany — -Florence, Lucca, Siena, Parma, and Reggio. 
On April 23, he was able to set out for Rome, and, on May 7, 
entered the Eternal City and lodged in the Lateran Palace. 
But St. Peter's and the Leonine City were in. the hands of 
his enemies. Much fighting took place in the streets, and 
Henry had to content himself with being crowned in the 
Lateran on June 29, 1312. 

He now made an alliance with Frederick of Sicily, and 
his daughter Beatrice was betrothed to Frederick's eldest son, 
Pedro. As the summer heats approached, his followers became 
tired of Rome, and on July 20, he left the city and retired 
to Tivoli, where he remained till August, and reached Florence 
in September. He spent the winter at Poggibonzi, and moved 
to the imperial city of Pisa in the spring. There he took 
measures for crushing the enemies who were gathering; round 
him on both sides of the Alps. Bohemia and Austria were 
marshalling their hosts in the north : Frederick of Sicily was 
preparing his fleet in the south. Galleazzo Yisconti, the 



448 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1271 to 

imperial vicar, held his own against the Gnelfs in Lombardy. 
Henry's efforts were producing their effects, and his triumph 
Henry's seemed to be at hand, when he suddenly died, 

sudden As he travelled in August from Pisa to Siena, 

Death. fever seized him, and he was carried in a litter 

to the little town of Buonconvento in the hills. He received 
the host from the hands of Brother Bernardino, a Dominican 
monk from Montepulciano, and died on the same day, August 
24, 1313, at the age of fifty-one. It was said that the host 
was poisoned, but the heats of Italy are sufficient to account 
for his decease. He was buried in the Campo Santo of Pisa, 
one of the few towns in Italy which was really true to him. 
His army broke up. Frederick of Sicily hurried home to protect 
himself against Robert of Naples. Henry's son John, who had 
crossed the Alps to assist his father, went to his new kingdom 
of Bohemia. The two ladies, Katherine of Hapsbnrg and 
Beatrice of Luxemburg, who had crossed the Alps to marry 
their respective husbands, Henry and Pedro, had to seek other 
alliances, Beatrice being married to Charles Robert of Hungary, 
and Katherine to Charles of Calabria, the heir of King Robert, 
while Robert was now made by the pope vicar over the whole 
of Italy, including Genoa. Italy fell back into the confusion 
and disorder which excited the scorn and indignation of Dante. 

But who was to succeed to the imperial crown 1 Five sons of 

Albert of Austria were still alive, the most prominent of whom 

were Frederick the Beautiful and the chivalrous 

Election* Leopold. The archbishops of Trier and Mainz 

would have preferred John of Luxemburg, but 

he was too young and inexperienced, so their eyes were turned 

to the house of Wittelsbach, which was represented by Louis 

of Bavaria. The result was a double election. Louis was chosen 

by four electors and crowned at Aachen, Frederick by three 

and crowned at Bonn. The sword had to decide between them. 

The civil war continued for eight weary years, and was not 

concluded till the battle of Miihldorf, on September 28, 1322, 

when victory fell to the house of Wittelsbach. John of 

Luxemburg remained in possession of Bohemia. 

To this time belongs the rise of the Swiss confederacy, as, 
when kings are fighting against each other, the people get 
Yhe their own. After the death of the Emperor 

Swiss Con- Rudolf, the three Forest Cantons, as they are 
federacy. called, Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden, formed 
a confederacy in August 1291, which is the kernel of the 



ad. 1347J GERMANY AND ITALY 449 

modern Switzerland. It is obvious from the events which we 
have described that the Hapsburgs were not in a position to 
assert their sovereignty over this country, and the Luxemburg 
emperor confirmed their liberties. After Henry's death, the 
Swiss supported the Bavarian cause, and the battle 

of Morgarten, fought on November 15, 1315, 5 r attle ° f 

f e 4. e a i. ■ rri i Morgarten. 

was a defeat tor Austria. lne league was con- 
firmed on December of the same year, and Frederick, hard 
pressed by Louis, was compelled to acknowledge Swiss indepen- 
dence, which was also fully recognised by Louis. The battle 
of Miihldoif, and the captivity of Frederick which followed it, 
did not decide the struggle between Hapsburg and Wittelsbach, 
because Duke Leopold, Frederick's brother, still thirsted for 
revenge. He was assisted by Pope John XXII., an ugly little 
man of low birth, who had succeeded Clement V. in 1316, 
and now reigned at Avignon. The pope was stimulated to 
attack Louis by the influence of the French king, Charles IV., 
who was anxious to obtain the imperial crown for himself, and 
had strengthened his position by marrying Maria, of the house 
of Luxemburg. In October 1323, John ordered Louis to lay 
down the imperial crown within three months, and when he 
refused he was deposed and excommunicated. Louis was 
driven to negotiate with the king of France and with Frederick, 
whom he released from prison. But the claims of Hapsburg 
suffered a terrible loss by the death of Leopold at the age of 
thirty-four, on February 28, 1326, followed by the decease of his 
brother Henry, just a year later. This reduced Frederick to insig- 
nificance, and he retired from the field of history, sufficiently occu- 
pied with the management of his own territories, where a 
civil war was raging. He died on January 28, 1330. 

Louis now prepared to march to Rome, which he reached 
at the beginning of 1328, and was crowned in St. Peter's on 
January 17, by the will of the Roman people, in Louis of 
spite of the opposition of the pontiff at Avignon. Bavaria 
Louis issued from the capital an imperial ban Crowned, 
against "Jacob of Cahors, falsely called Pope John XXII. ," on 
the grounds of simony, heresy, and high treason. He ordered 
that in future the pope should always reside in 
Rome. A new pope was elected, who bore the p opes 
name of Nicholas V. Louis was temporarily 
weakened by the desertion of Castruccio Castracani, who had 
been his active supporter, the most powerful despotic prince 
since Ezzelino, but he died in September, and Louis was 

2 F 



450 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1271-1347 

relieved. Yet, when he returned to Germany in the following 
year, he had gained nothing by his expedition. Even Pope 
Nicholas was forced to resign his power to John XXII., and 
was kept in confinement at Avignon until his death. John of 
Bohemia pursued a wild adventurous career, fighting sometimes 
against Arabs, sometimes against the heathen in Prussia, some- 
times on the Rhine; but at length, in 1330, he concluded an 
alliance with Albert and Otto, the two surviving sons of 
Albert, son of Rudolf. Then he went to Italy, where the 
memory of his father was still vivid, and had considerable 
success, being acknowledged even by Milan. But he was 
recalled to Germany, and left his youthful son Charles, after- 
wards the Emperor Charles IY., in his place. Louis was not 
strong enough to undertake a new expedition to oppose him, 
and the two now made a kind of friendship, but John's 
designs on Italy had no permanent result. We cannot follow 
in detail the troubles which distracted Germany for the next 
fifteen years. Louis pursued a policy of family aggrandisement. 
He himself obtained Holland, Zealand, and Friesland by 
marriage. He made his eldest son, Louis, margrave and 
elector of Brandenburg, and married him to Margaret Maultasch 
(i.e. Pouch Mouth, for she had the underhanging lips which 
have remained ever since the hereditary mark of the Hapsburgs), 
heiress of the Tyrol, annulling for this purpose her earlier 
marriage to John Henry of Moravia, son of John of Bohemia. 
He made a short-lived alliance with Edward III. of England 
against France. And in the famous decrees of Rhense (1338) 
he was joined by the electors in repudiating the claim of the 
papacy to meddle in the choice of German kings. Yet he 
alienated Luxemburgs and Hapsburgs alike by his land-hunger, 

and in 1346 he was deposed by Pope Clement VI., 
of Louw n an( ^ Charles of Luxemburg, son of John, was 

elected in his place. John, who was now blind, 
took sides with Philip of France, and met with his death at 
Crecy. Charles was crowned at Bonn on November 28, 1346, 
but his success seemed very doubtful. Louis, however, died by 
a stroke of apoplexy on October 11, 1347. His life was one 
long struggle, beginning and ending in war. He did not succeed 
in any of his enterprises, but his reign gave prosperity and 
economical advance to his dominions, 



CHAPTER XII. 

FRANCE, A.D. 1350-1380— ENGLAND, A.D. 1377-1509— THE 
IBERIAN PENINSULA. 

We have already related the history of England down to the 
death of Edward III. We must now give some account of the 
history of France down to the same period. 
Philip VI. died on August 22, 1350, and was sue- %^ the 
ceeded by his son John, a brave and chivalrous 
prince, but devoid of statesmanlike qualities. While his country 
was suffering from the defeat of Crecy and the loss of Calais, 
his mind was set on the pleasures of a splendid court. He took 
John of Bohemia as his model. Almost the first act of his reign 
was to make the count of Eu and Guines constable of France. 
To obtain the assistance of Spain, he married Blanche of 
Bourbon to the young king, Peter the Cruel of Castile, and his 
own daughter Joanna to Charles of Navarre. He made his 
favourite, Charles d'Espagne, constable of France. When the 
renewal of the war in 1355 made it necessary for him to get 
supplies, he summoned the States-General to Paris, which only 
produced confusion and discontent in the kingdom. His hasty 
and tyrannical temper estranged the affections of his subjects 
and nearly produced a condition of civil war. The battle of 
Poitiers, called by the French the battle of Maupertuis, followed 
on September 19, 1356. Attempts were made in France to curb 
the authority of the crown, as had already been done in England. 
The leaders of the movement were Robert Lecoq, bishop of 
Laon, and Stephen Marcel, provost of the Paris merchants. A 
kind of Parliament of 800 members met in Paris, and passed 
ordinances similar to the Provisions of Oxford, which pointed 
to the establishment of parliamentary government. These 
reforms were accepted by the Dauphin as the only means of 
obtaining money, but the whole country was in disorder, and 
civil war raged from the northern coast to the Mediterranean. 
Marcel joined with the king of Navarre, and marched on Paris, 
and what is called the Jacquerie broke out— a name derived 

45i 



452 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1350-80 

from Jacques Bonhomme, the usual appellation of the French 
peasant. It was a foretaste of the Revolution of four centuries 
later. The Dauphin took refuge in Compiegne, 
j e . but he collected his forces and managed to sup- 

press the revolt. Provost Marcel and his friend 
Jean Maillart were killed, the bishop of Laon fled to Navarre, 
and, on August 3, 1351, Charles the Dauphin entered Paris in 
triumph. The peace of Bretigny followed in May 1360. 

King John now returned from his imprisonment in England, 
but he did not long enjoy his freedom. At the beginning of 
1364, he returned to London voluntarily, his son Louis, a 
hostage for the unpaid lansom, having escaped from Calais; 
and he died there on April 8. John was one of the least 
satisfactory of the French kings. The easiness of his character 
won him the title of the Good, but he worked great misery for 
his country. Just before his decease, the death of Philip of 
Burgundy, a descendant of Hugh Capet, gave this rich county 
to the crown of France ; but, instead of keeping it for himself, 
he gave it as an appanage to his son Philip, whom he created 
the first peer of France — an act which produced disastrous 
consequences. 

His successor, Charles V., who received and deserved the title 
of the Wise, had a weak body and feeble health. He was 
fortunately able to commit the conduct of his war- 
Charles the like p era tions to Bertrand du Guesclin, one of 
the heroes of French history. By his efforts, 
France, was cleansed from some of the mercenary troops, who, 
under the name of companies, devastated the provinces. His 
coronation at Reims on May 16, 1364, was 
Exploits of brightened by the news that du Guesclin, with 
the help of Marshal Boucicault, had defeated 
Charles of Navarre at Cocherel, not far from Evreux, Charles 
having defended his claim to the duchy of Burgundy by arms. 
In Brittany, however, in the same year, the English party won 
the battle of Auiay. Charles avoided his father's errors, by the 
practice of economy, the establishment of a trustworthy coinage, 
and the reform of the bureaucracy. Although he kept the 
towns in order, he was accessible to all and fostered a national 
spirit. 

In 1369, the war broke out again. The Black Prince, being 
in want of money, imposed a hearth tax, called Fouage, in 
Aquitaine, which was resisted by the nobles, who complained to 



a.d. 1377-1509] ENGLAND 453 

the king in Paris. He reserved his decision until Henry of 
Trastamare had, with the help of du Guesclin, defeated his 
brother, Peter the Cruel, put him to death, and ascended the 
throne of Castile. Charles then summoned the Black Prince 
to his court, and received as a reply that he would come, but with 
his helmet on his head and 60,000 men in his train. Charles 
summoned the States-General to Paris to insure the support of his 
people, and among them were representatives of the towns, so 
that it had the character of a Parliament. The national spirit 
was aroused, and he strengthened his house by the marriage of 
his brother, Philip of Burgundy, to the heiress of Flanders. The 
Black Prince had now to withdraw from the war in consequence 
of bad health, and, distressed by the death of his eldest son at 
the age of six, he left Bordeaux, never to return. 
The star of English victory sank. The English English 
fleet was beaten by the Spanish Armada, and La 
Rochelle acknowledged the sovereignty of Charles V. By the 
summer of 1374, the English possessions in France were confined 
to Calais, Bayonne, Bordeaux, and some castles on the Dordogne. 
But Charles did not succeed in driving the English from France 
as he had hoped. On July 13, 1380, du Guesclin died at the 
siege of the castle of Bandon, and on September 10 Charles died 
himself, at the age of forty-four, leaving the crown to his son, 
a child of twelve. 

The reign of Charles V. was a time of peace between two 
periods of unrest. Though he never put on armour or be- 
strode a warhorse, he was served by distinguished generals, 
who held their own against the English. He was supported 
by the French and the Scotch, and had friendly relations with 
Castile and the empire, so that he was able to hold in check 
his evil-minded brother-in-law, King Charles of Navarre. He 
left behind him an honourable name in the history of his 
countiw. 

ENGLAND, A.D. 1377-1509. 
At the death of Edward III., John of Ghent, commonly called 
John of Gaunt, the brother of the Black Prince, was the most 
powerful man in the kingdom, having gained 
this position by the weakness of his aged father i° n ? 
and the ill-health of his brother. He was duke of 
Lancaster and Leicester, and was head of the national party, 
which was attempting to break the yoke of the papacy, which 



454 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1377 to 

had become more oppressive since the removal of the papal see 
to Avignon. He was assisted by John Wycliffe, of Balliol 
College, Oxford, a man of deep learning, equally skilled in 
scholastic philosophy and canon law, who set himself against the 
corruptions of the Roman church, and especially against the 
occupation of English church preferments by 
foreign priests, the exactions of the papal Curia, 
and the abuses of non-residence. The beggar orders, Franciscans 
and Dominicans, were enthusiastic supporters of the pope. At 
an early stage in his career, Wycliffe proposed that the papal 
tribute, which was much needed at home, should be withheld, 
and was supported by John of Gaunt, so that the fulmination of 
Rome against him had but little effect. Wycliffe became more cour- 
ageous. Barefooted, clad in a rough robe of serge, he walked from 
village to village, attacking the demoralisation of the church 
and the clergy and urging the necessity of root and branch reform 
in head and members. He also translated the Bible from the 
Latin Vulgate into the English language, although the Curia 
declared that it was casting pearls before swine. He went so 
far as to describe the existing system as the reign of Antichrist 
and the synagogue of Satan, and to denounce the worship of 
saints, purgatory, masses for the dead, indulgence, confession, 
and transubstantiation. This preaching, however, produced an 
unexpected result in the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. 

When Richard II. succeeded to the throne in 1377, there 
was an attempt to reduce the power of John of Gaunt, and 
he and his brothers were excluded from the royal council. 
England was exposed to attacks from the French on the 
south coast and from Scotland on the north, and the subsidy 
which was raised for the war was placed under the control 
of two London citizens. The following year (1378) saw the 
beginning of the Great Schism which divided the papacy into two 
parts, Urban VI. being acknowledged by England and Germany, 
Clement VII. by France, Spain, Scotland, and Sicily. 

The revolt of 'the peasants in 1381 was due to various 
causes, but was connected with a similar movement in France, 
The the knowledge of which was brought. to England 

Peasants' by the return of the English mercenaries from 
Revolt. that country. Some of the wandering priests 

of the Wycliffite party, known as Lollards, a name of uncer- 
tain derivation, had been preaching the equality of man and 
giving currency to the saying, " When Adam delved and 



a.d. 1509] ENGLAND 455 

Eve span, where was then the gentleman ? " This aspiration 
after equality was intensified by the hatred of the peasants 
to the compulsory service of villeinage and the oppressive 
exaction of a poll tax intended to bring the lower classes 
under contribution. The leaders of the peasants were Wat 
Tyler, Jack Straw, and a priest named John Ball. Their 
demands were the abolition of villein tenure, which provided 
that the occupation of land should be paid for by compulsory 
labour instead of by a money rent. 

The rising broke out first in Kent and Essex, and the in- 
surgents soon numbered 100,000. As in the Jacquerie of 
France, the peasants destroyed country houses, killed the game, 
burnt title-deeds, and murdered many people. In London 
they broke open the prisons, burnt the Savoy Palace of John 
of Gaunt, seized the Tower, and murdered Simon Sudbury, 
archbishop of Canterbury. The boy king, Richard, rode out 
to meet the insurgents, and tried to pacify them • but John 
Walworth, Lord Mayor of London, indignant at the impertinent 
behaviour of Wat Tyler, stabbed him with his dagger and 
killed him. Richard then said, " What do you want, my 
people? Tyler was a traitor; I will be your leader." He 
then rode on, followed by the crowd, and the rising was 
suppressed. This rising naturally strengthened the desire 
of the government for the preservation of order, and made 
it less inclined to liberalism. It also discredited the principles 
of the Lollards and postponed the Reformation for a hundred 
and fifty years. Villeinage died out in course of time, but this 
was mainly due to causes which were independent of the 
rising. 

The revolt was put down with great severity. In Kent 
and the eastern counties, the leaders were executed, and it 
is said that 1500 men were executed by the Chief Justice 
Tresilian at St. Albans. John of Gaunt lost his enthusiasm 
for democracy and reformation. The feeling turned against 
Wycliffe, who was forbidden to teach at Oxford, but was allowed 
to retain his rectory at Lutterworth till his death in December 
31, 1384. At the same time, Wycliffe' s faction spread after 
his death, and Lollards were persecuted as late 
as the sixteenth century, while, in spite of the Lollards 
opposition of the church, Wycliffe's Bible continued 
to be read. The Lollards, like the Protestants, looked upon 
the Bible as the foundation of faith and morals, but they 



456 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1377 to 

also had a political character, and were generally opposed 
to the government and principles of authority. Lollard doctrines 
would have spread more widely if printing had allowed their 
wider dissemination, and if their political associations had not 
rendered them unpopular. 

The first years of Richard's reign were spent in endeavouring 

to get lid of the overweening authority of John of Gaunt. 

Michael de la Pole, the son of a wealthy merchant in Hull, was 

Richard II niade chancellor; of the king's uncles, Edmund, earl 

assumes the °f Cambridge, was made duke of York, and Thomas 

Govern- of Woodstock duke of Gloucester, while Robert de 

ment. Yere, earl of Oxford, was made duke of Ireland. 

In 1386, John of Gaunt went to Spain to claim the throne of 

Castile in light of his wife, who was daughter of Peter the 

Cruel. But all these measures had little effect. Richard was 

discredited by the failure of his expedition against Scotland, and, 

in 1386 his chancellor, Michael de la Pole, was deposed. He 

was impeached for the misappropriation of public money and for 

enriching himself by grants from the crown. He was acquitted 

of the first charge, found guilty of the second, deprived of his 

status, and imprisoned. 

Parliament became convinced that Richard was a weak king 
who fell under the influence of favourites, so that a com- 
mission of regency was appointed for one year to govern the 
country and to reform abuses. Richard resented this, and 
obtained an opinion from the judges that the action was 
illegal. The result was civil war. Five " Lords Appel- 
lant" — the duke of Gloucester, and the earls of 
A ellant Arundel, Warwick, Derby, and Nottingham — took 
up arms against the supporters of the king, and 
defeated them in 1387 at Radcot Bridge. In the following year 
a Parliament, which is known in English history as the 
" Wonderful or Merciless Parliament," passed what was called an 
act of "appeal," accusing the king's friends of subverting the con- 
stitution, so that those who could not save themselves by flight 
were executed or banished. However, in May 1389, Richard, 
who was now twenty-two years of age, suddenly declared to the 
council that he intended to take the government into his own 
hands. He dismissed Gloucester, and gave the great seal to 
William of Wykeham, and the command of the fleet to his own 
half-brother, the earl of Huntingdon. 

For eight years (1389-1397) Richard governed well. In 



a.d. 1509] ENGLAND 457 

1394, he made an expedition to Ireland, and succeeded in settling 
the country and receiving homage from the chiefs, while he 
left behind him his cousin, Roger Mortimer, as lord deputy. 
In 1396, he made a truce with France for twenty- 
five years, and, as his first wife, Anne of Bohemia, Ireland 
had died two years before, married Isabella of 
France. However, in 1397, his government underwent a change. 
He became convinced that Gloucester was plotting against him, 
and took strong measures against him and his adherents. He 
banished Thomas Arundel, the archbishop of Canterbury, exe- 
cuted the earl of Arundel, murdered Gloucester, and banished 
the earl of Warwick. The two remaining Lords Appellant, 
Derby and Nottingham, supported the king, and were made 
dukes of Hereford and Norfolk. 

A Parliament was held at Shrewsbury in 1398, which annulled 
the proceedings of the " Wonderful Parliament," delegated its 
power to a committee of eighteen, all friends of the king, who 
were to act as a Parliament for the future, and gave the king 
the customs of the country as a revenue for life. A quarrel 
now , took place between Henry of Lancaster, 
duke of Hereford, and Thomas Mowbray, duke of , anca t 
Norfolk. The king intervened, and they were 
both banished from the kingdom, Hereford for six years and 
Norfolk for life. Norfolk went to the, Holy Land, and died at 
Venice on his return, where his monument still exists. In this 
year, Roger Mortimer, lord deputy of Ireland, died, leaving a 
son, Edmund Mortimer. Roger was the rightful heir to the 
throne, being the son of Philippa, daughter of Lionel, duke of 
Clarence, the second son of Edward III. ; on the other hand, 
Henry of Hereford was the son of John of Gaunt, the third son. 
In 1399, Richard, being in need of money, levied forced loans 
from seventeen counties, and on the death of John of Gaunt 
took possession of his estates. This was resented by Hereford, 
who, during the absence of Richard in Ireland, landed in England 
and claimed his father's property. The feeling of the country 
was obviously in favour of Henry, and Richard was compelled to 
abdicate, Parliament accepting his resignation. Henry had no 
claim against Edmund Mortimer, but Parliament elected him, 
and that gave him a right to the throne. Richard was im- 
prisoned in the Tower. 

Henry IV., who reigned for fourteen years (1399-1413), was 
a commonplace king, whose success was due rather to mediocrity 



458 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1377 to 

than to genius. He was an orthodox and honest Catholic, and 
had been a crusader in Lithuania, and was always prepared 

„ to undertake a crusade. He had no sympathy 

with Lollardry, and was generally averse to new 
ideas. He won popular favour by his chivalrous and energetic 
character, and took a middle line between the despotism 
of Richard and the vindictiveness of Gloucester. But he never 
surmounted the fundamental falseness of his title to the throne. 
His last years were darkened by ill-health and by remorse for 
past misdeeds. He, however, succeeded in founding a powerful 
dynasty, supported by influential alliances, and he has left 
behind him a fairly honourable name. His moderation led him 
to respect the constitution, which at his death was stronger than 
he found it. 

The reign of Henry IV. may be divided into two parts. 
During the first nine years of it (1399-1408), he was endeavour- 
ing to enforce his authority and to assert the principles of 
strong government ; during the last four, the struggles of the 
earlier period quieted down, and he reigned in a constitutional 
manner. His first procedure was to revoke the acts passed by 
the Parliament of Shrewsbury and to degrade the dukes who 
were friendly to Richard. They were betrayed by one of their 
number, and the consequence was that Richard 

Richard was ^ a ^ en ^° Pomfret Castle, where he died in a 
mysterious manner. Henry had now to establish 
his authority over Scotland and Wales. He crossed the Scottish 
border, to compel King Robert III. to pay him the homage 
which he had refused, but he was obliged to return without 
effecting his purpose. Wales was at this time under the 
influence of Owen Glendower, a powerful leader, to whom the 
people attributed magic powers. The English border nobles, 
Lord Grey de Ruthyn and Mortimer, fought against him, and 
by the intervention of Henry he was compelled to submit and 
his estates were confiscated. In this year Manuel Paleologus, 
emperor of Constantinople, visited England in the hope of 
obtaining assistance against the Turks. He failed in this 
object, but the danger was for the time averted and Constanti- 
nople did not fall till more than fifty years afterwards. 

In 1401, Glendower still continued his resistance, and 
assumed the title of Prince of Wales. Henry marched against 
him, but without success, and his two opponents, Grey de 
Ruthyn and Mortimer, were captured by Glendower at the 



a.d. 1509] ENGLAND 459 

same time. The Scots invaded the English border, but, in the 
battle of Homildon Hill, the great border family of the Percies 
defeated the Scotch leader Douglas, and took him Battle of 
prisoner, as well as Murdoch, heir of the earl of Homildon 
Albany, who was brother of Robert III. This Hill, 
victory did not contribute to the peace of the kingdom. The 
Percies, represented by the earl of Northumberland, his son Hot- 
spur, and the earl of Worcester, the brother of Northumberland, 
made common cause with Glendower. Their quarrels with the 
king were mainly personal, but showed the little authority pos- 
sessed by Henry over the great nobles of the kingdom. The 
rising was crushed in the battle of Shrewsbury, fought on 
July 21, 1403, and immortalised by Shakespeare, in which 
the Percies were defeated by the king and the 
Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V. Hotspur ghrewsbur 
was killed, Douglas was taken prisoner, and 
Worcester was captured and beheaded, Northumberland making 
his submission. Reluctance to submit to Henry and to acknow- 
ledge his title to the crown continued for four years longer. 

Louis, duke of Orleans, brother of King Charles VI. of 
France, who was insane, supported the claims of Mortimer, 
and married his mother, Queen Isabella, to his son. He also 
supported Owen Glendower, who was recognised as prince of 
Wales by Pope Benedict XIII. In 1405, Mowbray, son of 
the duke of Norfolk, who had died at Venice, Scrope, the 
archbishop of York, and the old earl of Northumberland, con- 
spired in favour of Mortimer, earl of March, who was the right- 
ful heir to the throne. At the same time, Glendower, with the 
help of the French, captured the castle of Carmarthen. But 
fortune favoured the house of Lancaster. The rebellion in 
the north was put down by Henry ; Mowbray Further 
and Scrope were executed, and Northumberland opposition 
fled to Scotland. Robert III. of Scotland died put down, 
on April 4, 1406 ; his heir, James, was a prisoner in Eng- 
land. Louis of Orleans was killed in the streets of Paris on 
November 23, 1407, and France fell under the power of John 
the Fearless of Burgundy, an ally of England ; and when 
the aged Percy, with the help of Thomas Percy, again raised 
the banner of insurrection, he was defeated at the battle of 
Bramham, on February 19, 1408, and risings against Henry 
were at an end. The power of Glendower was restricted to 
a small district in Wales. 



460 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d 1377 to 

Henry had, at last, undisputed possession of royal power, 

and obtained the position of a sovereign, which he owed to his 

Persecu- alliance with the church and with the House of 

tion of the Commons. Hence he persecuted the Lollards and 

Lollards. gave his consent to an act for the burning of 

heretics, by which teaching and preaching without a licence 

from the bishop were forbidden, and relapsed heretics were handed 

over from the bishop's court to the sheriff and 

Power of burned. He also allowed Parliament to have 

control over the proper auditing of accounts, he 

regulated the election of knights of the shire so as to prevent the 

sheriff from giving false returns, and he conceded to the Commons 

the right of originating money bills. After four years of peaceful 

reign, interrupted only by two expeditions against France, Henry 

died on March 20, 1413, at the age of forty-seven. 

His successor, Henry V., who reigned for the next nine 
years (1413-1423), was a typical medieval hero. His youth had 
been wild and stormy, but as king he was pure 
enry ' and upright. He was a great warrior, possessed 
by the crusading spirit, and he bitterly persecuted the Lollards, 
whom he hated and despised. He was not disturbed, like his 
father, by any doubts as to the validity of his title to the throne. 
He took up the position of the leader of the nation, supported 
by the Parliament. He was essentially a man of action. On 
his accession, he made Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, 
chancellor in the place of Archbishop Arundel ; he released the 
earl of March, and other political prisoners ; but, at the same 
time, he condemned Sir John Oldcastle for heresy, and drove 
the Lollards to make plans for the subversion of the government. 
In 1415, he renewed the war with France, which was thoroughly 
unjust, but was popular with all classes in England — with the 
clergy, the nobles, and the people. Henry was undoubtedly 
led to undertake the war by his desire for military glory and 
by the weakness of France, which seemed to lie like a victim 
at his feet. 

After putting down the conspiracy of the Earl of Cam- 
bridge, Lord Scrope of Masham, and Sir Thomas Grey to 
place the earl of March on the throne, Henry set out for 
France, and, on September 22 captured Harfleur. He then 
marched upon Calais, and, on October 25, fought the battle of 
Agincourt, — a brilliant victory, won by superior generalship over 
larger numbers. He then returned to England, and received a 



a.d. 1509] ENGLAND 461 

visit from the Emperor Sigismund, who desired to make peace 
between France and England and to heal the papal schism. 
In 1417, he built a fleet, and, having reformed 
his army, again invaded France, and captured . a . e ° , 
Rouen in 1419. In this year the duke of Bur- 
gundy was treacherously murdered on the bridge of Monterau 
by the adherents of the dauphin, which induced the queen 
and the Burgundians to take the side of the English. In 1420, 
a treaty was made at Troyes, by which Henry 
was to marry Catherine, the daughter of the T r ^ 
imbecile king, Charles VI., to act as regent for 
him, and to be king of France after his death. In 1421, 
Henry returned to England with his queen, but, in the same 
year, a third invasion of Fiance took place, in which Henry 
besieged and captured Meaux, dying himself in the following 
year, leaving his crown to a baby, and his kingdom to be 
punished for the brilliant excesses and injustice of his reign. 

Henry VI. was a saint, but was little fit to be a sovereign. 
The typical effort of his reign was the foundation of King's 
College, Cambridge, and Eton College, still noble 
places of education, but intended to be nobler ™ 

than they are. The thought of them occupied the whole of 
his life. He was unable to control his turbulent barons, and 
he lost the dominions in Fiance which his predecessors had 
added to the English crown. His wife, Margaret of Anjou, 
was one of the most fascinating and attractive of our queens. 
Henry succeeded at the age of nine, so that the kingdom 
was governed by his uncles, John, duke of Bedford, Humphrey, 
duke of Gloucester, and Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester 
and cardinal. Bedford and Gloucester were sons of Henry 
IV., and grandsons of John of Gaunt by Blanche of Lancaster; 
Beaufort was son of John of Gaunt by Catherine Swinford. 
Bedford was regent of France ; Gloucester, protector of England. 
Beaufort after a time became anxious for peace with France, 
and his policy was continued after his death by William de 
la Pole, earl of Suffolk. 

The people preferred Richard, duke of York, son of Richard, 
earl of Cambridge, and grandson of Edmund of York, son of 
Edward 111. and a younger brother of John of Gaunt. The 
struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York was called 
the War of the Roses, the red rose being the badge of the 
Lancastrians, the white rose the badge of York, while the 



462 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d.1377to 

combination of the white and red formed the Tudor Rose after 

peace was made between the rival houses. The war was waged 

first to decide who should be the king's adviser, and later, who 

should be king. 

The history of the French war has been already related from 

the French side. The first seven years strengthened the English 

power in the north of France, England being 

e oss closely united with Burgundy against the French 
01 r rcince. & j & 

crown. The battle of Crevant in 1423 helped 

to unite England with Burgundy, and the battle of Verneuil 

in 1424, by the conquest of Maine, did the same for Brittany. 

By 1428 English authority was supreme north of the Loire, 

and an attempt was made to extend it by the siege of Orleans. 

The siege of this town was raised by Joan of Arc, who pursued 

her victorious career for two years, till she was captured by 

Burgundy at Compiegne in 1431. In 1435 Bedford died, 

Burgundy joined Charles VII., and Richard, duke of York, was 

made regent in France. The next fifteen years mark the 

decline of the English power in France, and Normandy was 

lost in 1450, Calais, however, remaining English. The loss 

of Normandy led to the rebellion of Jack Cade, who defeated 

the royal forces at Sevenoaks, seized London, and beheaded 

Lord Say. The result was that the duke of York came 

forward as the leader of the opposition, being thought likely 

to establish a more effective form of government. 

The struggle between York and Lancaster occupies the eleven 

years from 1450 to 1461, the War of the Roses beginning in 

The Wars 1455 because the duke of York was dismissed 

of the from the office of lord protector. In the civil 

Roses. W ar which ensued, the house of York had greater 

wealth and a more legitimate claim to the throne, whereas 

the Lancastrians were discredited by the disasters of the 

French war, the weakness of the sovereign, and the power 

assumed by the nobles. The Lancastrians were supported 

by the Beauforts and the Percies, the church, and the north 

of England generally ; the Yorkists by the Nevilles of the 

younger branch, including the earls of Salisbury and Warwick, 

and the leading houses of the south. In the first battle of 

St. Albans, the Yorkists won, Somerset was slain, and York 

again became protector. The influence of Queen Margaret 

gained the assistance of the Scotch and the French for her side, 

but at Bioi'eheath, in 1459, the Yorkists were again successful, 



a.d. 1509] ENGLAND 463 

and still more so at Northampton in 1460. After this, the 
duke of York claimed the throne, and an arrangement was 
made by which Henry was to reign for life and be succeeded 
by the duke of York. Margaret rejected this compromise, and 
fought like a lioness for her son, Edward. She conquered at 
Wakefield, where York was slain, and at the second battle 
of St. Albans, but lost at Mortimer's Cross, where Edward 
of York defeated Jasper Tudor, the half-brother of Henry 
VI. Edward joined the defeated Warwick, hastened to London, 
and on February 25, 1461, was declared king. On March 29, 
Edward and Warwick met Margaret at Towton Heath, the 
red rose army being sixty thousand strong, the white rose fifty 
thousand. The battle took place on the eve of Palm Sunday, 
and lasted all through the night and till the after- 
noon of next day. The Lancastrians were entirely war 
defeated, and Edward was crowned at Westminster by the arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. Margaret kept up the struggle, fighting 
valiantly for her son, till he was slain after the defeat of 
Tewkesbury in 1471. Edward, in 1464, married Elizabeth 
Woodville, daughter of Jacquetta of Luxembourg, who had first 
married John of Bedford and then Richard Woodville. The 
war still continued, and, in 1470, Warwick, who had fled to 
France, invaded England, drove Edward IV. to Flanders, and 
restored Henry VI.; but in 1471 the Yorkists gained a final 
victory at Tewkesbury, and Henry VI. at last died. In 1475 
Edward IV. invaded France, but a peace was speedily arranged 
at Pecquigny. In 1478, he put his brother Clarence to death, 
fearing his ambition, and in 1483 he died. He was succeeded 
by the child Edward V., whose mother was 
supported by the Wootlvilles, but opposed by 
the new nobility, represented by Hastings and Stanley, and 
by the old nobility led by Richard, duke of Gloucester, brother 
of Edward IV., and the duke of Buckingham. The crimes 
of Richard are one of the commonplaces of history, although 
attempts have been made to defend his character. He executed 
Rivers and Grey, heads of the Woodville party ; he seized 
Edward V., and was recognised as protector, afterwards getting 
possession of Edward's little brother, Richard ; he arrested 
and executed Hastings ; and, on June 26, was declared king, 
the crown being offered to him by Buckingham. 

The reign of 'Richard III. lasted two years, from 1483 to 
1485, He was a very able man, was popular in the country; 



464 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1377 to 

and certainly intended to rule well ; but the crimes by which 
he obtained the throne stained him with indelible infamy. 
„. . . T T There is no doubt that he murdered the little 
princes in the Tower of London, where their 
bones have been discovered. A rebellion was formed against 
him by Buckingham, Morton, bishop of Ely, and the Wood- 
villes. The object was to marry Henry of Richmond, after- 
wards Henry VII., son of Margaret Beaufort, great-grand- 
daughter of John of Gaunt, to Elizabeth, daughter of Edward 
IV., and thus unite the two houses of York and Lancaster. 
The rebellion, however, was suppressed, and Buckingham was 
executed. 

In 1484, Edward, only son of Richard III., died, and his 
place as heir to the throne was taken by John de la Pole, 
earl of Lincoln, son of Richard's sister Elizabeth. However, 
in 1485, Henry, who had fled to the north of France, made 
preparations for the invasion of England. He landed at Milford 
Haven, and, in the battle of Bosworth, fought on August 22, 
gained a complete victory, Richard perishing in the struggle. 

After the death of Richard, Henry, earl of Richmond, as- 
cended the throne with the title of King Henry VII. He held 
the crown by three titles — first, as representing 
the line of Lancaster, which was by many held 
to have a superior claim to the line of York ; next by 
marriage with Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. and 
head of the house of York ; and lastly, by the decision of a 
stricken field. A week later, he made his entry into London, 
not on horseback, as a warrior, but in a close carriage, as 
one of modest bearing. He was crowned two months later, 
and on the same day established a body of archers, who were 
to act as a body-guard and were styled yeomen of the guard, 
and have continued, in a different form, to the present day. 
His title to the throne was confirmed by an act of Parliament, 
and a year later by a papal bull, so that, as Bacon says, the 
wreath of three became a wreath of five, and to his three 
original titles to the throne he added two more, the parlia- 
mentary and the papal. 

The beginning of his reign was disturbed by the impostors 
Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, the first 

am er Q £ w } lom personated the earl of Warwick, son 

Simnel. x „ „., , 

of the duke of Ularence, and the other the mur- 
dered duke of York. Hiinnel was put down in the battle of 



a.d. 1509] ENGLAND 465 

Stoke, after which the queen was crowned, so as to secure 
the adhesion of the house of York, and the court of Star 
Chamber was organised to give a summary trial to powerful 
offenders. Simnel was crushed in 1 189, but Warbeck did not 
appear till 1492, and was not finally captured and executed 
till 1499. 

In 1489 was passed the Statute of Fines, putting an 
end to conflicting claims upon land, which, in the disturbed 
state of the country, had become very troublesome. By it, 
any person holding land could, by paying a sum of money, 
have a proclamation issued in a court of law as to the tenure 
of his land, and after five years was safe against all claims 
that might be made against his title. In 1491, taxes called 
benevolences had to be raised for the French war, made 
against Charles VIII., king of France, in consequence of his 
marriage with Anne of Brittany, giving France a power 
which seemed to threaten England. The levying of the tax 
was directed by Morton, archbishop of Canterbury and chan- 
cellor, who ordered the commissioners to say that if they met 
with any who were sparing they should tell them that they 
must needs have money because they laid up, and if they 
were spenders they must needs have money, because it was 
seen in their bearing and manner of living. So neither kind 
could escape. This dilemma was called Morton's Fork or 
Crutch. 

The war was soon put an end to by the treaty of Estaples, 

by which it was agreed that Charles should pay Henry a 

considerable sum of money by instalments, a claim which 

was not satisfied till many years afterwards. In 1494, 

Poynings' Law was passed to destroy the power t 

of the Yorkist lords in Ireland. It provided £°^ mngS 

that no act could be introduced into the Irish 

Parliament without having first received the approbation 

of the king's council in England. Passed to check oppression, 

it afterwards became a means of restricting the liberties of 

Ireland, and was a main cause of Irish discontent. Warbeck 

continued to edve trouble, and was used by all 

• ■ Perkin 

the enemies of England as a means of attacking w ar beck 

her. The law of treason was altered by a statute 

entitled, " De Facto," by which no one could be punished for 

serving the reigning king, even if he were not the lawful king. 

In 1496, a commercial treaty between England and Burgundy, 

which received the curious name of " The Great Intercourse," 

2 G 



466 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1336-1479 

provided that neither country should assist each other's rebels, 
which deprived Perkin Warbeck of the help of that country. 
Warbeck was assisted by the Irish, but was deprived of their 
help by the energetic action of the earl of Kildare, and the 
invasion of England by James IV. of Scotland on his behalf 
produced no result. The tax levied for the Scotch war pro- 
duced a rising in Cornwall, and Warbeck went to help the 
rebels, but was captured. Escaping from prison, he was re- 
captured and executed, and the earl of Warwick, who had been 
kept all this time in confinement, was also put to death. 

The last nine years of Henry's reign were mainly devoted to 
foreign affairs, when the modern state s} 7 stem of Europe came 
Henrv's hrto existence. Henry based his foreign policy 

Foreign on alliance with Spain, which had become a single 

Policy. country by the marriage of Isabella of Castile 

to Ferdinand of Aragon. Maximilian of Germany married 
Mary of Burgundy, his son Philip of Austria married Joanna 
of Spain, and Henry VIII. married Catherine of Aragon, 
Joanna's sister. All these alliances were directed against 
France, and resulted in the union of the Spanish empire, the 
Burgundian provinces, and Austria with the imperial dignity, 
in the person of Philip's son, Charles V. In 1503, Princess 
Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., was married to James 
IV. of Scotland, an alliance which eventually brought about 
the union between Scotland and England. In the same year, 
Elizabeth of York died, and the remaining years of Henry's 
life were spent in matrimonial schemes for himself and the 
extortion of his agents, Empson and Dudley. He died in 1509. 
He deserves the character given to him by Bacon, of being a 
wonder for wise men, and governing his country not only with 
a view to the present, but out of prudence for the future. 



ARAGON AND CASTILE, A.D. 1336-1479. 

In treating of the Pyrenean peninsula, we must deal sepa- 
rately with Aragon, Castile, and other provinces, as well as with 

Portugal. Pedro IV. was king of Aragon from 
Aragon. 13g6 ^ ug7 ^ Th& chief ^ rf Mg ^.^ ^ ^ 

existence of the Justicia, a tribunal which held the balance be- 
tween the crown and the armed nobles. Its success was chiefly 
due to the wise minister Cabrera. Pedro was succeeded by his 
son John (1387-1395), a frivolous and extravagant sovereign, 



a.d. 1325-1433] PORTUGAL 467 

who was forced by the Justicia to reform. With Martin, 
king of Aragon and Sicily, the dynasty came to an end in 
1410. He was followed by Ferdinand I., called the Great, the 
son of Eleanor of Aragon, who reigned for six years, till 1416. 
The next king, Alfonso V. (1416-1458) ruled in Sicily and 
conquered Naples : Aragon he entrusted to his brother, who, 
as John II. (1458-1479), was the last king of Aragon before 
its union with Castile. The kingdom of Navarre had a closer 
connection with France at this time than Spain. 
Charles the Bad reigned from 1349 to 1387; his Navarre - 
son, Charles III., a peace-loving friend of literature and art, 
died in 1425, when Navarre passed to his daughter Blanche, 
wife of John II. of Aragon. In Castile, the constitution was 
not as liberal as in Aragon. Pedro the Cruel, who well 
deserved his name, reigned from 1356 to 1369, 
and murdered his stepmother, Eleanora Guzman, 
and his French wife Blanche. His chief opponent was his 
half-brother, Henry of Trastamare, who drove him from the 
throne by the help of du Guesclin, but he was restored by 
the Black Prince at the battle of Najera, called by English 
historians Navaretta. Henry at last succeeded in defeating 
and killing his brother in 1369, and became king under the title 
of Henry II. He reigned for ten years (1369-1379), and was 
succeeded by his son John (1379-1390), who attempted to 
gain the throne of Portugal, but was stopped by his defeat at 
Aljubarrota in 1385. There was also a danger of Castile's falling 
into the hands of John of Gaunt, who had married Constance 
of Castile, but the treaty of Bayonne in 1387 prevented this 
by the marriage of Henry, prince of the Asturias, to Catherine, 
the daughter of Constance. Henry III. (1390-1406) was weak 
in body but strong in mind, and secured the possession of the 
Canaries to Castile. Dying early, he left a young son, who, as 
John II., reigned for 47 years (1406-1453), first under the regency 
of his mother Catherine and the care of his uncle Ferdinand. 
His successor, Henry IV. (1453-1474) rightly nicknamed "the 
Impotent" left no son, and at his death his half-sister, the 
famous Isabella of Castile, became queen. 



PORTUGAL, A.D. 1325-1433. 

Portugal was disturbed by disputes in the royal house, as 
well as among the nobles. Indeed, the Spanish and Portuguese 



468 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1325-1433 

aristocracy, having no longer the Moors to fight against, turned 
their arms against each other. King Diniz (1279-1325) was 
succeeded by Alfonso IV. (1325-1357), whose reign was stained 
by the murder of the beautiful Inez de Castro, to whom Pedro, 
the crown prince, was secretly married. On coming to the 
throne, which he occupied for ten years, Pedro exhibited the 
virtues of an excellent ruler, peace and prosperity flourishing 
under him. His son Fernando (1367-1383) was a very differ- 
ent character, weak and sensual, dishonoured by his connection 
with Leonard Tellez, and by the assistance which he gave to 
John of Gaunt againt Castile. After his death, there was 
an interregnum of two years, caused by the attempt to unite 
Castile and Portugal, which was bitterly resented by the 
Portuguese, and defeated, as we have seen, at Aljnbarrota. 
John of Avis, called the " Spurious," the bastard brother of 
Fernando, became king and reigned for 48 years (1385-1433). 
He wrested Ceuta from the Moors, assisted by his heroic youngest 
son, Henry the Navigator. From this time, the energy of 
Portugal was spent in foreign exploration, which gave her the 
possession of Porto Santo and Madeira. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE EMPIRE AND THE PAPACY, A.D. 1347-1449. 

On the death of Louis of Bavaria, Charles IV. became in fact, as 
well as name, German king. He had been baptized as Wenzel, 
but changed his name to Charles, and, being at 

fli a rlflo TT7" 

an early age betrothed to a French princess, was 
educated in Paris. At the age of fifteen, he was left by his 
father, John of Bohemia, to act as viceroy in Italy, and dis- 
tinguished himself in the battle of San Felice, fought on 
November 25, 1332. Recalled from Italy, he ruled in Bohemia 
and Moravia during his father's absence, and ruled with wisdom 
and strength. He became extremely popular, assisted his 
father in his wars, spoke five languages, and was a great patron 
of literature. Pope Clement VI., who had been his tutor, was 
deeply devoted to him, and when he was crowned at Prague 
with his wife, Blanche of Valois, September 2, 1347, the pros- 
pect of his reign excited the warmest hopes. We need not 
spend time over the trouble which accompanied his accession, 
or the election of a counter king, Gunther of Schwarzburg. 
His first act after his election was to found the university of 
Prague on April 7, 1348. Indeed, he created that splendid 
city. 

Charles naturally desired to be crowned emperor at Rome, 
and to settle the affairs of Italy, which was in a disordered con- 
dition, as we shall see later on. It was the time 
of republican independence at Florence, of Cola Condition 
di Rienzi at Rome, of the Visconti at Milan, 
of the Pepoli at Bologna, of the rise of the power of Venice, 
of its rivalry with Genoa. Charles was incited by Lombardy 
and Tuscany and by Pope Innocent VI., who had succeeded 
Clement VI., to crush the overweening power of the Visconti. 
But he had no desire to destroy so useful a counterpoise 
to the power of the popes, and made an alliance with that 
powerful family. He received the iron crown of Lombardy 
on January 6, 1355, and his first act was to make peace be- 

469 



470 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1347 to 

tween the Visconti and the Lombard League. He was crowned 
in St. Peter's on Easter Day, April 5, but left Rome the day 
after, as he had promised Clement VI. He returned home 
after a peaceful journey, interrupted only by an outbreak at 
Pisa. The truth is that the struggle between Guelfs and 
Ghibellines was now at an end, and it was recognised that the 
emperor could never have any predominant power in Italy. 
The age of Guelfs and Ghibellines had been succeeded by the 
age of the Condottieri. 

When Charles returned to Germany as crowned emperor, 
he turned his attention to legislation. A Bohemian Diet met 
at Prague at the end of September, and the law 
e Go den ^q^ called the Majestas Carolina was promul- 
gated. Immediately after this came the Golden 
Bull, drawn up at a diet which sat at Nuremberg from 
November 1355 to January 1356, completed at Metz, and pub- 
lished on Christmas Day, 1356. The Golden Bull established 
the election of the emperor or rather of the German king 
on a fixed basis, appointing seven electors for this purpose, 
but it also weakened the power of the emperor by increasing 
that of the electors ; and, although it seemed to add to the 
power and prestige of the imperial crown, and to confirm 
the strength of the constitution of the empire, it really con- 
tributed to undermine both. A great object of Charles IV. 
was to increase the power of the house of Luxemburg, and 
this was made easier by the fact that, after the death of the 
Emperor Louis, Bavaria was divided between his six sons, 
which reduced the Wittelsbachs to a condition of impotence. 
Charles fixed his eyes on Brandenburg, then held by Louis' 
eldest son, but he had to contend against the claims of the 
house of Hapsburg. The head of this house was Rudolf IV., 
son of Albert II., and husband of Catherine, the daughter of 
Charles IV. He quarrelled with his father-in-law, laid claim 
to Bohemia, called himself palatine of Austria, and duke of 
Swabia and Alsace, and joined Wiirtemberg against the emperor. 
But a so-called Erbverbriiderung, or brotherhood of inheritance, 
Dynastic between Luxemburg and Hapsburg was concluded 
Arrange- at Briinn, on February 10, 1364, by which it was 
ments. settled that Margaret Maultasch, daughter of 

Henry of Carinthia and wife of Louis of Brandenburg — whose 
son, Meinhard III., had married Margaret, daughter of Albert II., 
duke of Austria — should keep certain castles in the Tyrol, 
with a yearly allowance, but that after her death, which 



ad. 1449] THE EMPIRE AND THE PAPACY 471 

happened in 1369, the Tyrol should go to either- the Hapsburg 
or the Luxemburg house, whichever might have heirs, ex- 
cluding the house of Wittelsbach. After Meinhard's death, 
Margaret married John Henry, margrave of Moravia, and Albert 
III. married Elizabeth, the daughter of Charles. But the 
Tyrol went eventually to Austria. Charles, however, obtained 
possession of the mark of Brandenburg. When Charles was 
at the height of his power, he possessed Luxemburg, Bohemia, 
Moravia, the Lausitz, Brandenburg, Silesia, and part of the 
Netherlands. 

When Pope Innocent VI. was succeeded on September 12, 1362, 
by Urban V., Charles went to Avignon to persuade him to take 
up his abode in Rome, and met with a favourable attempt to 
answer. Italy was a prey to the Condottieri, of restore the 
whom a principal leader was Fra Moreale, a monk Popes to 
who commanded the so-called English Company, Rome, 
which had been employed by Edward III. in his wars in France. 
The pope desired to clear the country from these plagues and to 
undertake a crusade, in which the emperor promised to assist 
him. Charles received the crown of Aries on June 18, 1365, 
but he did not make a second journey to Borne till 1368, when 
his wife had borne him a second son, Sigismund, afterwards 
emperor. He returned in August 1369, having established the 
pope in his capital. But Urban was obliged to come back to 
Avignon shortly afterwards, and it was left for his successor, 
Gregory XL, to restore the papacy permanently in Rome, seven 
years later. 

Charles had the happiness to see his eldest son Wenzel 
crowned King of the Romans at Aachen at the age of thirteen 
in 1376. He arranged that, after his death, Wenzel should 
have the greater part of his possessions, together with the 
guardianship of his younger brother, and Sigismund Branden- 
burg, except what was given to the third son, John. Just before 
his death, Charles paid a visit to Charles Y. in France, anxious 
to see again the scenes clear to him in his youth. He also 
arranged that his son Wenzel should succeed his brother Wenzel 
in Luxemburg. He died in the Hraclshin at Prague on Novem- 
ber 29, 1378. He was a great king and a powerful emperor, but 
his fondness for his own country has impaired his reputation 
among the Germans, to whose hand the narrative of his reign 
has been generally committed. Wenzel was a weak ruler, and 
under him the German towns developed their leagues, which 
weakened the imperial power and diminished its prestige. 



472 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1347 to 

At the time when the south German towns were at war with 
their lords, the Swiss Confederation, the beginnings of which 
The Swiss have been already related, set itself to win in- 
Confedera- dependence, and sealed its faith in blood at the 
tion battle of Morgarten. On May 3, 1334, Louis of 

Bavaria surrendered his feudal rights over the states of the 
confederacy. In 1332 Lucerne joined the union, making it one 
of four cantons instead of three ; and, after many struggles with 
its suzerains, both clerical and lay, the important town of Zurich 
finally joined the confederation on May 1, 1351, and soon gained 
in it a predominant position. The Swiss now cast their eyes on 
the town of Bern, which had been founded by Berthold V. of 
Zahringen in 1191, and had been recognised by Frederick II. 
as an imperial town. In the battle of Laupen on June 22, 1339, 
the men of Bern, under Rudolf of Erlach, defeated the nobles, 
and, on March 6, 1353, made an everlasting union with the three 
original cantons, to which Lucerne and Zurich were admitted 
under certain conditions. Switzerland now consisted of eight 
cantons — Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, Lucerne, Zurich, Bern, 
Glarus, and Zug, which had joined in 1352. Charles IV. made 
several attempts to break up the confederacy, and besieged 
Zurich, but he finally recognised the union in 1362, and the 
peace of Thoiberg, as it was called, was continued till his death. 
Attempts were made to consolidate the union, and a document 
called the Pfaffenbrief , or Priests' Letter, was signed on October 7, 
1370, for that purpose. 

Some twelve years after this, the lords of Kyburg, who were 
deeply in debt, went to war with the confederacy with the hope 
of recovering Thun and Aarberg, which had been mortgaged by 
them to Bern, and were supported by Leopold III. of Austria. 
But he was afraid to attack the Swiss because of the treaty of 
Constance, by which in 1384 they allied with the Swabian 
Leagues, and which made them very powerful. However, the 
unavoidable struggle took place at Sempach on 
Sempach ^ u ^ 7 ^' 1386, when the Austrian chivalry, de- 

pending on their phalanx of 25,000 men, armed 
with long spears, were entirely defeated. Arnold von Winkel- 
ried is said to have broken the Austrian phalanx by seizing 
a number of Austrian spears and thrusting them into his 
heart. The Austrians were again defeated at Nafels on April 
9, 1388. At the beginning of the next century, Appenzell 
joined the league, and fought in the battle of Speicher on 
May 15, 1403, but bad great difficulty in maintaining its 



ad. 1449] THE EMPIRE AND THE PAPACY 473 

izidependence, and St. Gallen still continued under the suze- 
rainty of its abbot. 

Wenzel IV. went on from bad to worse. He neglected busi- 
ness, and gave himself up to sport. The large dogs which he 
kept in his bedroom tore his first wife to pieces. 
Later on, he took to drinking, and was guilty of iiseonauct 
the most cruel tyranny, but he did not lose the 
affection of his Bohemian subjects. In the papal conflict, he 
took the side of Urban, but Clement had many supporters in 
Germany. With the death of his wisest councillors, the 
character of his government became worse. He quarrelled with 
the archbishop of Prague, and, on March 20, 1393, threw John 
of Pomuk from the bridge of Prague into the Moldau, which 
gave rise to the legend of St. John Nepomuk, whose statue is 
found on many bridges. At last, a coalition was formed against 
him, and he was taken prisoner, and imprisoned in the Hrad- 
shin. His brother, Sigismund, king of Hungary, 
tried to help him, but in vain. After many Wenzel 

ClCDOSGQ 

struggles, he was eventually solemnly deposed by 
a majority of the electors at Rhense on the Rhine on August 
30, 1400; and the Count Palatine, Rupert III., was elected 
in his place and crowned at Aachen, Cologne refusing to 
receive him. 

King Rupert naturally desired to be crownel at Rome, but, 
owing to his defective title, there were difficv lt'.es in the way. 
He assembled his troops at Augsburg in September 
1400. But he was defeated by the Milanese at u ^ 
Brescia, and forced to retreat to Trent. However, he would not 
give up the struggle, and advanced again to Padua. But he 
could g*jt no farther. He returned home, without money and 
without fame, and got the name of " Rupert with the empty 
pockets." His attempted journey to Rome had done him 
nothing but harm. Moreover, he was unfit to govern the 
empire entrusted to his care. The authority of the emperor 
was everywhere despised and disregarded. Rupert did his best 
to restore order, entered into negotiations with Wenzel for the 
recognition of his position, and even contemplated a second ex- 
pedition to Rome. He was recognised by the Italian pope, and 
the death of Galeazzo had put an end to the power of the 
Visconti. But his vicar in Italy, Francis of Carrara, had been 
imprisoned and executed by the Venetians ; the imperial city of 
Pisa fell into the hands of Florence ; Perugia was recovered by 
the pope; Venice seemed likely to take the place which Milan 



474 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1347 to 

had held under the Visconti. In Germany, a league was formed 
at Marbach in 1405 by John, archbishop of Mainz, which set 
itself against Rupert's authority, and, in 1407, the archbishop 
possessed more power than the king. If the Marbach League 
could unite itself with Wenzel, all would be lost. Rupert at 
last, by recognising the League, succeeded in getting crowned 
at Aachen on November 14, 1407, but it was a poor satisfaction. 
He was in a miserable position ; without friends, threatened 
by Wenzel, excommunicated by the pope as a heretic and a 
schismatic, without any firm support in any direction. He had 
the alternative of either abdicating or crushing John of Mainz. 
But John had been appointed papal legate for Germany by the 
new pope, Alexander V., and had submitted to the suzerainty 
of France, the first German elector to suffer this indignity. 
And, as Rupert was preparing for war, he died, on May 18, 
1410, and was buried with his wife, who survived him only for 
a short time, in the church of the Holy Ghost at Heidelberg. 
Rupert had many excellent qualities. He governed the pala- 
tinate well, and worked hard to fulfil his duties, but the welding 
of the empire into unity, and the healing of its divisions and 
quarrels, were far beyond his strength. 

After Rupert's death, there was a division among the electors. 
Some were in favour of recalling Wenzel. Others supported 
Sigismund n * s brother, King Sigismund of Hungary, who had 
and Jost of exhibited in the government of his kingdom powers 
Bavaria. f statesmanship and diplomacy, and had recently 

subdued Bosnia, and established his power in Servia and Dal- 
matia. He was strongly supported by Frederick VI., burgrave 
of Nuremberg. The election took place at Frankfort, on 
September 20, 1410. The Elector Palatine, the archbishop of 
Trier, and Frederick II., acting for Brandenburg, chose Sigis- 
mund as king. Twelve days later the archbishops of Cologne 
and Mainz, and the representatives of Wenzel, chose Jost, mar- 
grave of Moravia, a son of John Henry, brother of Charles IV., 
so that the world had now three popes and two emperors. 
Luckily, before war broke out, Jost died at 
Josi!^ ° f Briinn on January 17, 1411, leaving no heirs. 

Of his possessions, Brandenburg went to Sigis- 
mund and Moravia to Wenzel, so that Moravia and Bohemia 
were now united. By the intervention of Stibor, voiwod of 
Transylvania, peace was made between the two brothers, and 
Wenzel recognised Sigismund as king of the Romans. On July 
21, 1411, Sigismund was solemnly chosen by Jost's electors 



ad. 1449] THE EMPIRE AND THE PAPACY 475 

and the duke of Saxony, the other two naturally standing 
aloof, so that the unity of the empire was restored. He was 
crowned at Aachen on November 8, 1411, and his queen, 
Barbara, with him. Immediately after this, Sigismund set 
out for the Council of Constance, which had been summoned 
to reform the church in head and members, and to heal the 
divisions in the empire itself. 

Before we relate the history of the Council of Constance, we 
must go back. As we have before stated, Pope Urban V. 
(1362-1370) had returned to Rome, but was, 
soon afterwards, compelled to leave it, in spite of . j .°^ es 
the prayers of the Romans and the prophecies of 
St. Brigit, who foretold his death if he should return to 
Avignon. Brigit was right, and the excellent and worthy pope 
died on December 19, 1370, being succeeded by Pierre Roger, 
count of Beaufort, who took the name of Gregory XI. and 
reigned for seven years (1371-1378). He did return to Rome, 
but died before he was able to do any good. The Romans now 
insisted on having an Italian pope, and Bartolomeo di Prignano, 
archbishop of Bari, was elected, taking the name of Urban VI. 
(1378-1389). However, the French cardinals declared the 
election illegal, as having been extorted by force, and chose 
Robert of Geneva, bishop of Cambrai, who as- 
sumed the title of Clement VII. (1378-1394). ^hism^ 
Clement retired to Avignon. He was obeyed by 
France, Spain, and Naples, whereas Urban received the allegi- 
ance of Italy and Germany. The division lasted for forty 
years. Urban VI. was followed by Boniface IX. (1389-1404), 
by Innocent VII. (1404-1406), and by Gregory XII., who died 
in 1417. Clement VII. was succeeded by Peter of Luna, 
Benedict XIII., who died in 1423. At last a General Council 
assembled at Pisa in 1409, to which both popes were summoned 
in the hope of healing the schism. 

The council was attended by the cardinals of either obedience, 
by archbishops, bishops, and abbots of all countries, personally or 
by deputy, by doctors of the universities, by kings 
and princes. The learned Gerson of Paris sup- p^ 101 
ported the view that the church could exist without 
a pope, and was, indeed, superior to the pope, whom she could, 
if necessary, depose. The council deposed both popes, calling 
them heretics, and chose Peter Philargi, archbishop of Milan, 
to reform the church. The new pope, under the title of 
Alexander V., accepted the duty, but deferred it to a council 



476 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1347 to 

which was to be summoned in three years. So there were three 

popes, Benedict being still recognised in Spain and Scotland, and 

Gregory in a part of Germany and Italy, by King Rupert. Alex- 

. ander was of no use, and, dying on May 3, 1410, 

Pones nVa was succee( l e< l by Balthasar Oossa, cardinal legate 
of Bologna, as John XXIII. John lived till 1419. 
He was a Neapolitan, a man of infamous character, who began 
life as a pirate, and had then been ordained, gaining the favour 
of Boniface IX. Pope John was received in Rome, attempted 
to gain the support of the university of Paris, and held a 
council in the Lateran for the reform of the church, which 
was a mere farce. Driven from Rome by King Ladislaus of 
Naples, he agreed to the calling a fresh council, and Sigismund 
compelled him to hold it outside Italy. He gave way, and it 
was summoned to Constance. A movement was proceeding in 
Bohemia, like that of Wycliffe in England, the leaders of which 
were John Huss and Jerome of Prague, and this matter was 
also left to the decision of the council. 

A more brilliant assembly was never seen in the middle ages 

than the Council of Constance. Besides cardinals, archbishops 

and bishops, doctors and professors, there were 

ounci o electors and counts, and ambassadors from all 
Constance. n , . . . 

Christian princes, together with the Emperor 

Sigismund and the pope. Men of learning were there, Francois 

d'Ailly, Gerson, Biogni and Zabarella, Robert Hallam, bishop 

of Salisbury, the great English scholar, Aretino and Chrysoloras. 

Among the visitors, who were reckoned at fifty thousand, were 

camp-followers male and female, good characters and bad. Pope 

John went there with reluctance, full of anxiety and fear. The 

council opened on November 5, 1414, and found three great 

problems before it, those of faith, unity, and reformation. John 

Huss was intimately connected with the first of these. Sigismund 

had promised him a safe-conduct, and the pope was favourable to 

him, but he had many enemies. His forebodings were only too 

well founded. He was loaded with chains and kept in prison in 

the Dominican convent on the Boden See. The emperor arrived 

with his wife, Barbara of Cilly, on Christmas night, after his 

crowning at Aachen. He was angry at the imprisonment of 

Huss, and threatened to leave the city, but he gave way to 

pressure and sacrificed Huss to the unity of the church. On 

March 1, 1415, Pope John, after many struggles, was persuaded 

to abdicate. Three weeks later he ran away in the dress of a 

groom, and took refuge with Duke Frederick of Austria. Many 



a.d. 1449] THE EMPIRE AND THE PAPACY 477 

cardinals and prelates followed him, including the archbishop 
of Mainz. The authority of the council was rudely shaken, but 
was strengthened by the decree called Sacrosancta, affirming 
the supremacy of the council, passed on April 5, 1415, chiefly 
by the authority of Gerson, who was called the " Soul of the 
Council." On the following day, the ban of the council was 
pronounced against Frederick, and the secular arm was sum- 
moned to execute it. On May 5 he humbled himself before the 
emperor, and promised to bring John back to Constance. He 
was deprived of all his dominions except the Tyrol, and received 
the nickname of "Frederick with the empty pockets." The 
wrath of the council was now directed against the pope, who 
was deprived of his office and confined in the same prison as 
Huss, until he was removed to Heidelberg. 

Now came the turn of Huss. His friend Jerome of Prague 
hastened to Constance to support him, and Sigismund exerted 
himself in his favour. Huss defended himself Trial and 
before his judges, but was constantly interrupted. Death of 
One of his main contentions was the right of the John Huss. 
laity to receive the communion in both kinds, whence his 
followers were called Calixtines, and the churches of his per- 
suasion were marked by a chalice. But, on June 15, doctrines 
were condemned, and on July 6 Huss was solemnly pronounced 
a heretic in the presence of Sigismund, and given over to the 
secular arm. He was stripped of his priest's clothing, and 
a high paper cap was placed on his head, decorated with 
three devils, and an inscription, "This is an arch heretic." 
When he heard his soul devoted to hell, he exclaimed, " And I 
recommend it to my Lord Jesus Christ ! " The Palgrave Louis 
gave him over to the town authorities, with orders that he should 
be burned, and, on the following day, the orders were fulfilled. 
His ashes were thrown into the Rhine that they might not be 
worshipped in Bohemia. Jerome of Prague underwent the 
same fate on May 30, 1416. When the council came to an 
end, it had fulfilled two great tasks, and these alone — the de- 
position of Pope John XXIII. and the burning of John Huss. 

Before the end of the year, Benedict XIII. was deposed at 
Xarbonne, whither Sigismund had betaken himself. He con- 
tinued his progress to Chamber} 7 , where he raised Amadeus of 
Savoy to the rank of duke, then went to Paris and to London, 
where he was forced to make an alliance with Henry Y. against 
France. He returned to Constance in January 1417. During 
his absence things had not gone well. Frederick of Austria 



478 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.b. 1347 to 

had broken bis parole, and Pope John XXIII. was hoping to 
recover his power. However, in 1418, an arrangement was made 
between Sigismund and Frederick. The council, on October 9, 
1417, passed five decrees of no great value, one providing for 
the periodical meeting of councils, which was never carried into 
effect, and, on November 11, Cardinal Otto of Colonna was 
chosen pope under the title of Martin V. The last meeting of 
the council was held on April 22, 1418, and it was settled that 
the next council should assemble at Pavia. 

The burning of Huss lighted a flame in Bohemia. The 
archbishop of Prague had to flee from the wrath of the people. 

A Catholic League was formed to resist the Hus- 
Hussites sites, but on July 22, 1419, a Hussite meeting 

was held in which many thousands, calling them- 
selves brothers and sisters, swore to be true to " the cause 
of the chalice." The unfortunate Wenzel IV. died on August 
16. This brought matters to a crisis, and a civil war broke 
out. Sigismund, the new king of Bohemia, was in Hungary 
preparing for war against Turkey. He appointed WenzePs 
widow Sophia as regent, with the burgrave of Wartenburg to 
help her. The Hussites now received assistance from two 
powerful men, Nicholas of Pistna, burgrave of Hust, and John 
Ziska or Trocnow. Great meetings were held on the mount 
of Tabor, or the hill of Horeb, near Hohenbruck, and on 
the hill of the Cross, near Prague ; and a league was formed 
to protect the freedom of the word of God, and to guard the 
national faith, and Tabor, the stronghold of the cause, gave 
its name to the extremists of the party, who were known as 
Taborites. The war which followed dragged on for many years. 
It was waged with far more vigour by the Hussites than by 
their opponents, and Sigismund's attempts to end it were vain, 
though papal bulls summoned crusaders to help him in crushing 
the heretics. Ziska died of the plague on October 11, 1424, 
but a new leader for the Taborites appeared in Prokop the 
Great, while Korybut of Lithuania helped the men of Prague. 
At Aussig, in 1426, these two gained a complete victory over the 
Germans, who are said to have lost 15,000 men. Aussig was 
captured, plundered, and burned. The Hussites carried on the 
war with continued success, through five campaigns, and won 
another great victory at Tauss on August 14, 1431. 

Pope Martin was not a success as pope. He had no money, 
and was saluted by the children of Florence with the rhyme 
"Papa Martino, senza quattrino " (Pope Martin, without a 



ad. 1449] THE EMPIRE AND THE PAPACY 479 

farthing). He died on February 1, 1431, and was succeeded 
by a Venetian, Condolmieri, who took the name of Eugenius IV. 
When he was elected, Eugenius promised to call a council, 
which met at Basel in 1431. 

No sooner, however, had the council met than it was dis- 
solved by the pope on the ground of the uncertainty of the 
roads and the distance of Basel from the centre 
of affairs. He promised that another council Council of 
should meet at Bologna after a year and a half's 
delay, at which he would be present himself. But the council 
refused to accept its dismissal, and asserted the supremacy of 
councils over the pope. The council declared Tn e Oues- 
that the pope was not, and could not be, more tion of 
powerful than the whole church ; and the papacy, Supremacy, 
however much it might oppose these principles, was not strong 
enough to enforce its authority. Sigismund now determined 
to be crowned at Rome. Accompanied by a small body of 
Hungarian cavalry, he set out in the late autumn, and received 
the iron crown of Lombard} 7 at Milan on November 25, 
1431. Venice was now at war both with Hungary and 
Milan, who had in their service the great Condottiere Car- 
magnola. Sigismund entered into negotiations with the pope, 
who offered to crown him if he would give him his support at 
the Council of Basel. During this time Sigismund remained 
in Siena, promising to persuade the council to give assurances 
that it would undertake no measures against Eugenius IV. 
At length a treaty was signed between Sigismund and the 
pope at Ferrara, as well as between Venice, Florence, and 
Milan. Sigismund promised to recognise the pope as the true 
pontiff and to induce all Christendom to do the same. Eugenius 
had won the battle, and Sigismund was crowned at Rome on 
May 31, 1432. In October, the emperor suddenly appeared 
in Basel, where the struggle between the council and the 
pope still continued. He could not, however, effect much, and 
soon left the city against his will. In Rome, Eugenius had 
his own difficulties to contend with. He was opposed to the 
powerful family of the Colonna, who were assisted by Filippo 
Maria Visconti of Milan, who could command the services 
of the condottieri Fortebraccio, Sforza, and Pioccinino. The 
pope was taken prisoner, and had to escape to Florence in 
disguise. The council was delighted at the humiliation and 
weakness of its adversary. 

The next problem before the council was to make peace with 



480 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. iui to 

the Hussites, who, after the victory of Tauss, were divided into 

two parties — the Taborites, wishing to continue and even to 

The Council extend the war ; and the Oalixtines, who gradu- 

and the ally grew in influence, desiring: to bring about a 

TT ... ° 

Hussites. reconciliation. The leaders of the council were 
Cardinal Julian, Ousanus, and Capranica. Julian wrote that 
the gate was open to let in the lost sheep. Negotiations went 
on, and a certain agreement was reached at Prague on November 
30, 1433. But passions were too violent to be appeased in this 
manner. Civil war broke out, and the irreconcilable party 
was defeated at Lipan on May 30, 1434. The war, however, 
still continued, the leader of the Calixtines being John Rokycana. 
Peace was not made till 1436, and on August 23, in that year, 
Sigismund, accompanied by his wife, Barbara, and a stately 
company, entered Prague in triumph as king of Bohemia, 
having promised to observe what was called the Compactation 
of Prague. This, however, was not done. The pope and the 
council were too enthusiastically devoted to the old catholic 
faith. Monasteries were restored : monks and nuns were re- 
called. It was only very slowly that the stormy waters of 
Bohemian revolt subsided into peace and calm. 

The council itself was sharply divided into parties, some for 
and some against the authority of the pope. The heads of the 

Dissensions fi l ' s ^ were Cesarini of Venice, Cervantes, and 

in the Albergati, aided by Torquemada and Cusanus. 

Council. The supporters of the council were more in 

number, consisting chiefly of the French, led by Louis d'Alle- 
mand, bishop of Aries, the English, Germans, and also many 
Italians, led by Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, afterwards Pope 
Pius II., who now made his appearance in Basel. He was a 
man of commanding ability and of great literary culture, but of 
worldly temper. A middle position was held by John of 
Segovia, who represented the university of Salamanca. But as 
the feeling of the council became more democratic, and power 
seemed to come into the hands of the inferior clergy, the 
bishops were more inclined to support the claims of the pope. 

Passions were now roused by the consideration of the hard 
question of the union between the Latin and Greek churches. 
A violent quarrel broke out on May 7, 1437. The archbishop 
of Taranto, defeated by his opponent, the democratic Louis 
dAllemand, took refuge with the pope, who rewarded him with 
a cardinal's hat. Each party condemned the resolution passed 
by the other. In July, Eugenius dissolved the council and 



a.d. 1449] THE EMPIRE AND THE PAPACY 481 

summoned another to meet at Ferrara. In September the 
council declared the orders of the pope to be null and void. 
These quarrels were too much for the aged emperor, and his 
anxieties were increased by troubles at home. When his son- 
in-law, Albert Y. of Austria, whom he had designated as his heir 
in Luxemburg and Bohemia, came to Prague to claim his in- 
heritance, a conspiracy broke out against him, in which the 
empress took part and was imprisoned in consequence. Weary 
of life, he died at Znaim on December 9, 1437, the last of the 
brilliant house of Luxemburg. During his life he did his best 
to heal the disorders of a divided church and a distracted 
empire, but he did not possess the clearness of view, the unity 
of purpose, and the strength of will which were necessary for this 
overwhelming task. He was succeeded by Albert 
II., who was elected on March 18, 1438. He Albert IL 
was king of Bohemia and Hungary and heir to Luxemburg, a 
strong and worthy prince, who might have done much for the 
good of the empire, assisted by his trusted chancellor, Schlich, 
if he had not been involved in a war with Turkey and died on 
his return from it on October 27, 1439. His cousin, Frederick 
III., of the Styrian line, was elected as his sue- 
cessor in 1440, and reigned over Germany for ™ enc 
fifty-three years, but with so little strength or 
prestige that the empire fell into greater disorder than ever. 
The Council of Ferrara met on January 8, 1438, attended by 
Greek prelates, with the Emperor John Paleologus and the 
Patriarch Joseph at their head, and, having been adjourned 
first to Florence and then to Rome, proclaimed a hollow union 
of the Roman Communion first with the Orthodox Church and 
then with minor churches of the East. Meanwhile a " Rump " 
of the Council of Basel — ignoring Eugenius' bull of dissolution 
— continued to sit. It professed to depose Eugenius on June 
25, 1439, and Amadeus YIIL, duke of Savoy, was elected in 
his place as Felix Y. But Felix did nothing. He spent his 
life in the magnificent castle of Rapaille on the shores of Lake 
Leman ; and when, in 1449, Frederick III. finally dissolved 
the council, he submitted to the reigning pope, the learned 
Thomas Parentucelli, who, as Nicholas Y., had succeeded 
when Eugenius died on February 23, 1447. Thus the final 
victory in the long struggle rested with the papacy. 



2 H 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE GREAT CITIES OF ITALY— EASTEKN EUROPE. 

1. Rome and Naples, a.d. 1341-1435. 

While the popes were in Avignon, Rome was in a terrible 
condition ; it remained poor and obscure, ruined and debased, 
Rome ^ ne rubbish heap of politics, while its lord and 

without master was accumulating riches in France. Per- 

the Popes. haps its brightest day was the crowning of the 
great Petrarch in the Capitol in 1341. Among the crowd 
who witnessed it was a young man, Cola di Rienzi, the son 
of an innkeeper called Lorenzo, who was seized with the idea 
of reviving the glory and the power of his native city. In 
May 1342, Clement VI. became pope, and, on January 19, 
1343, King Robert of Naples died, leaving his throne to his 
granddaughter Joanna, wife of Andrew of Hungary, the son 
of his nephew, Charles Robert. It was thought a favourable 
moment to send an embassy to Rome to beg the pope to 
return, and Cola was a member of it, spending some time 
in Avignon, in intercourse with Clement and Petrarch. By 
fiery speeches and exhibitions of ancient monuments, he stirred 
the Romans to enthusiasm, protected by the pope, who, however, 
still delayed to return. Joanna of Naples was 
N° ^es" ° a woman °f ability, but of unbridled passions, 
and, when Andrew had been crowned king by 
order of the pope, he was murdered, with the connivance of 
his wife, in the palace of Aversa, on August 21, 1345. Joanna 
had two cousins, Charles of Durazzo, who married her sister 
Maria, and Louis of Taranto, who claimed the throne of 
Constantinople. Joanna married Louis in August 1346, but 
his hopes of being king had been marred by the birth of a 
posthumous son of Andrew, Charles Martel, who, however, died 
in 1348. After Louis' own death in 1362, Joanna married 
James of Majorca; and, when he died in 1375, Otto, duke of 
Brunswick, who died in 1381, Joanna dying herself in 1382. 

482 



1341-1435] THE GREAT CITIES OF ITALY 483 

In the summer of 1347, Rienzi declared himself tribune of 
Rome, at a time when Stephen Colonna, the most powerful 
noble of the city, was collecting supplies at Corneto. Ri enz i and 
Returning to Rome, Stephen had to take refuge in the Roman 
Palestrina, and the rest of the nobles accepted Republic, 
the republic founded by Rienzi, who now determined to make 
Rome the head of an Italian federation. Joanna bowed to 
the storm and accepted the situation ; Rienzi appeared in a 
dress of white silk on a white horse, with a banner waving 
over his head, and a bodyguard of a hundred youths. He 
proceeded to make himself a knight by bathing in the bap- 
tistery of the Lateran, and made himself ridiculous by extravagant 
ceremonies. At last he was overthrown, and took refuge in 
the castle of St. Angelo. The cardinal legate, Bernhard, took 
possession of the city for the pope, and gave the government 
to the Orsini and Savelli. In the meantime, Louis of Hungary 
conquered Naples, and Joanna had to escape to Provence. In 
1350, a Jubilee was held in Rome, which restored the prestige 
of the papacy and put all ideas of a republic out of the heads 
of the citizens. Rienzi fled to Prague, where he sought the 
protection of Charles IV., who, anxious to conciliate Clement, 
threw the tribune into prison, and, after a year's confinement, 
sent him to Avignon, where he remained till Clement VI. died 
and was succeeded on December 6, 1352, by Innocent VI. 

Rome continued in even worse confusion than ever. The 
new pope created Cardinal Albornoz his vicar-general. He 
set Rienzi at liberty, and took him with him Return and 
to Rome, where he was made senator. In August Death of 
1354, he entered the city in triumph, with a Rienzi. 
bodyguard of a hundred men under the command of Fra 
Moreale. As these troops were difficult to pay and their 
leader was suspected of treachery, Rienzi captured him by 
a trick, and had him executed on the steps of the Capitol, 
seizing the hundred thousand gold florins which he left behind 
him. When this treasure was exhausted, Rienzi had to get 
money from the people, which made him as much hated by 
them as he was by the nobles. On October 8, 1354, Moreale's 
brother, Brettone, attacked Rienzi in the Capitol ; he was 
driven from the palace, endeavoured to escape in the dress 
of a monk, was recognised, and killed on the same spot where 
Moreale had fallen. His body was burned in the mausoleum 
of Augustus, and his ashes scattered to the winds. 

The death of Rienzi and the futile expedition of Charles 



484 A GENERAL HISTORY [1341-1435 

IV., which we have already related, increased the prestige 
of the papacy. But the wandering condottieri were still the 
real masters of Italy. Albornoz governed the patrimony of 
Renewed St. Peter well, but, in 1357, he was recalled to 

vigour of Avignon by Innocent VI. He died in 1367, 
the Papacy, equally great as a statesman, a general, and a 
legislator, and was buried in Toledo. Pope Urban V. returned 
to Rome in the same year, and took up his abode in the Vatican, 
honoured by Petrarch, visited by Joanna of Naples, and by the 
emperor, whose fourth wife, Elizabeth of Pomerania, he crowned 
in St. Peter's. But in 1370 he returned to France to die there. 
Rome was not permanently occupied by its lord till the return 
of Gregory XL, on January 17, 1377, and he died fifteen 
months afterwards. He was succeeded by Urban VI., but the 
Great Schism followed, and, as we have seen, did not come to 
an end for many years. 

Urban supported Louis of Hungary against Joanna of Naples, 
who summoned a second Anjou, Louis, brother of King Charles 
The V., to her aid. Catharine of Siena, who had spent 

Struggle her life in endeavouring to bring the pope back 
for Naples, to Rome, died on April 30, 1380. Charles of 
Durazzo, brother of Louis, entered Rome in November 1380, 
and attacked Joanna. Though bravely defended by her 
husband, Otto of Brunswick, she was defeated and captured, 
and eventually murdered on May 22, 1382. Louis of Anjou 
died two years afterwards, leaving Naples to his son, Louis II., 
and Provence to his younger son, Charles of Maine. Blood 
seemed to cling to the house of Anjou, as it did to the house of 
Oedipus. Within forty years, Andrew, Joanna, and two Charleses 
of Durazzo, father and son, had met with violent deaths, but, 
in 1369, the new pope, Boniface IX., recognised Ladislaus 
II., son of Charles, as king. Louis II. of Anjou and his brother, 
the count of Maine, came to Naples to claim their inheritance, 
but Ladislaus reigned in Rome. In 1404, his protector Boniface 
died, and was succeeded by Innocent VII. After two years, 
Innocent was succeeded by Gregory XII., a Venetian, eighty 
years old, who supported Ladislaus, but the rights of Louis 
of Anjou were recognised by Alexander V., who had been made 
pope at the council of Pisa. At last the chivalrous Ladislaus 
died on August 6, 1414, leaving his kingdom to his sister, 
Joanna II. But the anarchy still continued, with conflicts 
too complicated to be related here, till Louis II. of Anjou 
was succeeded in 1423 by Louis III., who held the title till 



1322-1482] THE GREAT CITIES OF ITALY 485 

his death in November 1434. Joanna herself died in February 
1435, leaving her kingdom to Rene, the brother of Louis III. 
of Anjou and the father of Queen Margaret, wife of Henry VI. 
of England, who bore on her six-fold shield the arms of Hungary, 
of both Anjous, of Bar, of Jerusalem, and of Lorraine. 



2. Milan and Piedmont, a.d. 1322-1482. 

In Milan, Matteo Visconti, who had succeeded in the govern- 
ment of that city the Guelf family of della Torre, died in 1322, 
leaving his position to his distinguished son, f^e 
Galeazzo. The Yisconti continued in power with Visconti 
Azzo, who died in 1339, — Lucchino, who died in at Milan. 
1349, — Giovanni, who died in 1364, — and Bernabo, the blood- 
thirsty tyrant, who died in 1385, — till the succession of Gian 
Galeazzo, whose only daughter, Valentina, married Louis of 
Valois, the brother of Charles VI. of France, with a dowry of 
400,000 gold florins. In 1395, the Emperor Wenzel gave him 
the rank and title of duke of Milan, which placed him among 
the princes of Europe. He died in 1402, leaving a nun as his 
heir, which resulted in the downfall of his race. In 1450, 
Francesco Sforza, a condottieri leader, who had succeeded 
Carmagnola as defender of the city, was elected duke by the 
people, and governed his country with wisdom and success till 
his death on March 8, 1466. 

Piedmont was divided into marquisates, the principal of 
which were Susa, Montferrat, and Saluzzo, of which Montferrat 
was the most distinguished. The best known 
among the rulers of Montferrat was Giovanni, who 
got possession of Ivrea, Valenza, Asti, and Alba. After his 
death the country was attacked by Susa on one side and 
Milan on the other, and the house of the Paleologi came to 
an end at the death of Giovanni IV. in 1461. The house 
of Savoy was founded in 1056 by Humbert- with- 
the- White-Hands, count of Maurienne, who in of Savoy 
1034 had received valuable territory from the 
Emperor Conrad II. He was succeeded by Amadeus I., Oddo 
II., Peter I., and Amadeus II., whose sister, Bertha, married 
the Emperor Henry IV., and who made valuable additions to 
his dominions. He was followed by Humbert II., Amadeus 
III., Humbert III., and Thomas I., who was made imperial 
vicar by Frederick II. Amadeus V.,who was called the Great 



486 A GENERAL HISTORY [1284-1453 

(1285-1323), founded a new dynasty, and about this time 
Piedmont was reunited to Savoy. Amadeus VI., the " Green 
Count," was succeeded by Amadeus VII., the "Red Count," 
who got possession of Nice and Ventimiglia. Amadeus VIII., 
who bought the Genevois in 1401, became duke in 1416, 
inherited Piedmont in 1418, resigned the duchy in 1434, was 
elected pope in 1439, and died in 1451, as an Augustinian 
hermit in Geneva. He was followed by Louis, who failed to 
make good his claim to Milan as against Sforza, — by Amadeus 
IX. (1465-1472),— and by Philibert I., who died in 1482. 



3. Genoa, a.d. 1284-1453. 

The power of Genoa was founded on its struggles with Pisa, 

from whom it wrested Corsica, and whom it entirely defeated 

Wars with ^ n ^ ne battle of Molara in 1284. It had gradually 

Pisa and acquired the rocky sea-coast of the Mediterranean 

Venice. from Nice to Spezzia, as well as the isle of Elba. 

It then had to contend against Venice, with whom it fought 

the war of Chioggia, put an end to by the peace of Turin 

in 1381, after which time the decline of the Genoese republic 

began. The republic of Genoa had neither the good fortune 

The Genoese nor the capacity to secure freedom for its citizens. 

Constitu- Even as early as the twelfth century, the people 

tion. were divided into eight companies, which included 

both patricians and plebeians and elected all the officials both 

civil and military. A nobility of public service arose which 

excluded the common people from the conduct of affairs. 

Membership -of the great council was confined to a few, and 

the popular assembly lost its power. The city was torn by 

factions, the families of Doria and Spinola being Ghibellines, 

the Fieschi and the Grimaldi Guelfs. At the head of the 

government we find, in turn, consuls, then a podesta appointed 

from a foreign city, but the example of Boccanera, about 1261, 

showed that such an official might be dangerous to liberty. 

Henry VII. did something to check the strife of parties, and 

Robert of Naples became Signor in 1331. A popular rising 

in 1339 led to the creation of a Doge, of whom Simon 

Boccanera was the first, assisted by twelve councillors, six 

from the nobles and six from the people. The companies were 

assisted by guilds. When Boccanera laid down his office in 

1344, and withdrew to Pisa, Giovanni di Murta was elected 



1250-1429] THE GREAT CITIES OF ITALY 487 

in his place. But party quarrels soon came back, and between 
the years 1363 and 1527 the office of doge was held almost 
exclusively by the families of Adorno and Fregoso. 
The hank of St. George, in whose hands the ^ance 
finances of the republic lay, began to have great 
power at the beginning of the fifteenth century ; the French, 
who had occupied the city to restore order, were driven 
out, and the government entrusted to a council of twelve 
anziani, with the marquis of Montferrat at their head. But 
Marshal Boucicault, the commander of the French garrison, 
returned, and the financial credit of the republic improved. 
In 1436, the Genoese, who had been under the power of Filippo 
Maria Visconti, again elected doges ; but after the loss of 
Pera to the Turks, and the conquest of Constantinople by them 
in 1453, the republic came entirely under the influence of 
France. 

4. Florence, a.d. 1250-1429. 

In Florence, a great change took place after the death of 
Frederick II. in 1250; party quarrels raged fiercely between 
Guelfs and Ghibellines, Manfred, at the head of Tlie 
the second, becoming master of Tuscany by the Florentine 
battle of Montaperti, and the Guelfs returning Constitu- 
te power after his death at Benevento. The * 10n - 
citizens were divided into guilds, each with a consul, a captain, 
and a standard-bearer. Originally there were seven higher 
guilds, forming the popolo c/rasso, or wealthy people, and five 
representing the poorer, the popolo minuto, but they were 
gradually increased to twenty-one. In 1282, Florence was 
governed by priori., whose numbers rose by slow stages from 
three to twelve, and the Ghibelline Pisa fell into the hands of 
the Guelfic rival. Ordinances of Justice were passed in 1292, 
under the influence of Giano della Bella, to secure the people 
against the encroachments of the nobles, and a Standard-bearer, 
" Gonfaloniere," of Justice, was placed in the public palace to 
assist the priori in this respect. Under this regime, Florence 
gained a great prosperity. In the time of Dante, about 1300, 
the city was divided into the two parties of the 
Bianchi and ISTeri (Whites and Blacks) , both Guelfs, - m ^ Cit 
but bitterly opposed to each other, represented by 
the families of Cerchi and Donati, the one being rich merchants, 
the other poor nobles. Dante was exiled in 1302 by Oorso 



488 A GENERAL HISTORY [1172-1457 

Donati, who was killed in 1308. Florence now made a league 
with Naples, and the duke of Calabria became signor. His 
representative, Walter of Brienne, duke of Athens, made 
himself detested by his severity, and became worse on the 
death of Charles of Calabria on November 9, 1328. Indeed, he 
desired to make himself master of the city, but was driven out 
in 1343, on July 26, which always remained a day of popular 
rejoicing. 

The government of Florence now came into the hands of the 
guilds, the noble families of Donati, Adimari, Cavalcanti, 

Frescobaldi, and Nerli being driven out. The 
p 013U i ace labour party got the upper hand, a change which 

was assisted by the losses incurred by the great 
banking houses of Bardi and Peruzzi, who lent money for the 
wars between France and England. Florence fell gradually 
under the power of a Guelf oligarchy, all who did not belong to 
this party being carefully excluded. This oligarchy had almost 
unrestrained power, the families of Buondelmonte and Ablizzi 
being at its head. Against them the " Ciompi," the populace, 
rose on July 22, 1378, and gained a complete victory, being 
led by Michele Lando, a wool-comber, who went about with 

bare feet. But the insurrection was gradually 
Medici ° suppressed by the wisdom of Salvestro de Medici, 

whose family acquired supremacy in the city for 
the first time in the person of Giovanni de Medici, who died in 
1429. He protected the poorer citizens, but did not flatter 
them. He obtained his power by wise moderation, wisdom, 
and great unselfishness. At his death his power, founded on 
the wealth and business connection of a great banking house, 
passed to his sons Cosimo and Lorenzo. 



5. Venice, a.d. 1172-1457. 

Venice owed its rise to the destruction of Aquileia, after which 
the population took refuge on a number of islands situated in a 

lagoon, protected from the sea by a strip of land 
origin called the Lido. After being governed by tribunes, 

they gradually came under the power of a doge, who 
was elected for life. Venice is an example of a pure aristocratic 
government threatened by the danger of becoming a monarchy 
on the one hand and a democracy on the other, and having 
to protect itself against both evils. The Venetians gradually 
succeeded in preventing the office of doge from being confined 



1172-1457] THE GREAT CITIES OF ITALY 489 

to a particular family, which would have established a kind of 
monarchy ; in attaching permanently to the doge certain advisers 
whom he was bound to consult ; and finally in creating, in 1172, 
a Great Council, composed of noble families, which Tlie 
eventually got for itself all the powers of govern- Venetian 
ment which ought to have belonged to the popular Constitu- 
assembly. So long as this aristocratic govern- tion- 
ment was really patriotic, and thought more of the interests 
of the country than of its own power, Venice held a great 
position, which gave her a commanding voice in the councils 
of Europe. This was shown in the congress held at Venice in 
May 1177, and in the exploits of Dandolo in the near East. In 
1297 a momentous change was made in the Venetian constitution, 
by which not only was the Great Council limited to certain 
families, but it was ordered that every member of these families 
should be admitted to it on attaining the age of twenty- 
five. The government was thus changed from an aristocracy to 
an oligarchy. This was called " II Serrate del Gran Consiglio," 
the barring of the doors of the Great Council. Dissatisfaction 
with the change was shown by the conspiracy of Tiepolo in 1310, 
punished by the execution or banishment of those who took part 
in it. This gave rise to the creation of ten inquisitors, called 
the Council of Ten, whose duty it was to Watch 
against any attempts to impair the constitution. ofTen*" 101 
Established at first as a temporary instrument for 
two months, they became permanent in 1335. In March 1335 
an attempt made by the Doge Marino Faliero to destroy the 
oligarchical tyranny, by establishing either a seniory like that 
of other Italian cities, or else a doge who should really re- 
present the people, was discovered by the Ten, and Faliero was 
executed on the staircase in the courtyard of the doge's palace, 
a tragedy immortalised in the verse of Byron. A war with 
Genoa, the chief rival of Venice, called the war of 
Chioggia, lasted from 1379 to 1381, and ended by JjJJjj^ 
the surrender into the hands of the Venetians of 
five thousand Genoese and thirty-two galleys, and the signature 
of the peace of Turin through the mediation of Count Amadeus 
of Savoy. 

The beginning of the next century saw the extension of 
Venetian power on the mainland, by which Vicenza, Bassano, 
Feltre, Belluno, and Padua came under the control of the 
island city. But a little later it became necessary to make 
war against the Turks, who were pressing their conquests in 



490 A GENERAL HISTORY [997-1437 

the East, and against the Emperor Sigismund. At the close 
of the first quarter of the fifteenth century all the coasts of 
The the Adriatic from the mouth of the Po, through 

Venetian Yenetia, Friuli, Istria, Dalmatia, down to Albania, 
Empire. together with Corfu and Negropont, belonged 

to the republic. Salonica was also in the power of Yenice 
until it was conquered by the Turks. Under Doge Foscari 
(1423-1457) an attempt was made to make Yenice mistress 
of the north of Italy and to crush the power of the Yisconti in 
Milan, and for this purpose a league was formed with Florence, 
Ferrara, Mantua, and Ravenna. The forces of the league 
were commanded by Francesco da Carmagnola. When the 
operations of the league were not successful, Carmagnola was 
accused of treachery, and on March 5, 1432, was beheaded 
between the two columns in the Piazzetta of San Marco. The 
war continued until it was put an end to by the peace of 
Lodi in April 1454, when Constantinople had already, by 
the shameful divisions between Greeks and Latins, fallen into 
the hands of the Turks. Yenice had not succeeded in crushing 
Milan, but she had secured a position of superiority in the affairs 
of northern Italy. This success was mainly due to Foscari, 
but his enemies triumphed over him, and on October 25, 1457, 
he was compelled to leave the palace in which he had lived and 
worked for thirty-four years, and died a few days afterwards of a 
broken heart. 

EASTERN EUROPE. 
1. Hungary, a.d. 997-1437. 

We must now turn our attention to the East, and first to 

Hungary, which learned something of Christianity under Geisa 

Hungary a (972-997), but was not organised as a Christian 

Christian state till the reign of St. Stephen (997-1038), who 

Kingdom. received the title of king from Pope Silvester II. 

Under him it became a Christian feudal state with a king at 

its head, and was strengthened by the addition of Transylvania. 

Stephen was succeeded by Peter I. (1038-1041), and eventually 

by Geisa II. (1074-1077), who was a contemporary of Gregory 

VII., by whose influence Hungary became attached to the 

Latin church instead of to the Greek. A very important king 

was St. Ladislaus (1077-1095), who energetically rooted out the 

remains of heathen worship. Under Kolman (1095-1114), 

Croatia was added to the Hungarian crown, and the reduction 

of Dalmatia was attempted. He was succeeded by Stephen II. 



997-1437] EASTERN EUROPE 491 

(1114-1131), who suffered much in wars with Austria and 

Constantinople, and died childless, and, in 1131, by Bela the 

Blind, who reigned till 1141, and was followed Wars with 

by Geisa III., a minor, who ruled for twenty Constanti- 

years. He welcomed German colonists into Tran- nople. 

sylvania, who still flourish there. Geisa was a warlike prince, 

and his reign was occupied by quarrels with Constantinople. 

His son, Stephen III., succeeded at the age of twelve, but civil 

war broke out, and Hungary found itself with three kings, 

two Stephens and a Ladislaus, recognised in different parts of 

the kingdom. It was settled that Bela, brother of _ , ,,, 

• Bela II 

Stephen III., should be educated in Constantinople, 

and marry the emperor's daughter. When Stephen died at the 
age of twenty-three, Bela returned from Constantinople, but 
secured his crown with difficulty, as his Greek education and 
connections made him an object of suspicion. He proved, how- 
ever, a wise and powerful king, and reigned till 1196. He did 
much to introduce European culture into Hungary. He was 
succeeded by his eldest son, Emmerich (1196-1204), Croatia 
and Dalmatia falling to his brother Andrew, who married an 
ambitious wife, Gertrude of Meran. Emmerich got his young 
son Ladislaus recognised as king, but he only wore the crown 
for a year, and Andrew II. obtained the object of his desires. 
Constance of Aragon, the mother of Ladislaus, who had fled to 
Austria to escape the jealousy of Andrew, eventually married the 
Emperor Frederick II. 

Andrew II. (1205-1235) proved a very weak king. His 
wife was murdered in 1214, and Andrew consoled himself with 
Iolanthe of Auxerre. In 1217, he went on a crusade, and on 
his return quarrelled with his son Bela, who had governed 
the kingdom in his absence. In 1222, he published the so- 
called " Golden Bull," which long continued to 
be the corner-stone of the Hungarian constitution. „ f, ° en 
He died in 1235, and was succeeded by his son, 
Bela IV., a powerful king, who reigned till 1270. In his reign 
occurred the terrible invasion of the Mongols, which entirely 
ruined his country, while he himself took refuge in Austria. 
His last years were saddened by the death of his son and 
his wife, and he died himself at the age of sixty-five, one 
of the best kings that Hungary ever had. His successor, 
Stephen V., reigned for two years (1270-1272), and was followed 
by Ladislaus IV. (1272-1290). The reigns of both coincided 
with the struggle between Rudolf of Hapsburg and Ottokar, 



492 A GENERAL HISTORY [862-1472 

and Hungarian cavalry assisted the Germans in the struggle 

on the Marchfeld. 

The race of Arpad was now nearly extinct. Stephen, brother 

of Bela IV., of doubtful legitimacy, had married Catherine 

Contest Morosini, a noble Venetian, and had a son named 

for the Andrew. Ladislaus summoned him from Venice 

Hungarian to Hungary, made him duke of Slavonia, and 

Crown. designated him as his successor. But his claim to 

the throne was hotly disputed, first by the nobility of Croatia, 

then by Albert of Austria, whom Rudolf had invested with 

the fief of Hungary, then by Charles Martel, grandson of 

Charles of Anjou, son of Maria, the sister of Ladislaus, and, 

after his death in 1296, by his son, Charles Robert. When 

Andrew died in 1301, the greater portion of the Hungarian 

clergy and the magnates hesitated to receive a sovereign 

from the hands of the pope, and turned their eyes to Wenzel 

of Bohemia, whose mother was an Arpad. He was accepted 

as king, and took the name of Ladislaus, but died in 1306 

in consequence of his evil life. In 1310, Charles Robert of 

Anjou was recognised as king, and reigned well till 1342, 

when he was followed by his son, Louis the Great, who occupied 

the throne for forty years (1342-1382). He was 

ouis e frequently engaged in Italy, but in his own 

country he subdued the Lithuanians, the Tartars, 

and the Dalmatians. He became king of Poland, so that his 

dominions extended from the mouth of the Vistula to the 

Adriatic, from the western coasts of the Black Sea to the 

Baltic, and, ruling over a motley crowd of nationalities, he 

was equally beloved and honoured on the Vistula and the 

Save. He was a good legislator, and exerted himself to 

extirpate heathendom and to put Christianity in its place. 

At the Diet held at Of en in 1351, he confirmed the Golden 

Bull of Andrew II. His death was followed by a time of 

trouble and confusion, which ended by the reception as king 

of Sigismund, who had married Maria, daughter 
Sigismund. of Louig _ He reigned from 1386 t0 U37) and 

was, as we already know, emperor, king of Germany, and king 
of Bohemia. 



2. Poland and Russia, a.d. 862-1472. 

The fortunes of Poland, Russia, and the Turks must be passed 
rer lightly. The first came under the rule of the Piasts, 



862-1472] EASTERN EUROPE 493 

a family who, starting from the Warthe and the Neisse in 
the middle of the tenth century, gradually extended their 
power. The greatest king of this race was Casi- piasts 

mir III., who was succeeded in 1370 by his nephew, 
Louis the Great of Hungary, of whom we have already heard. 
Louis' younger daughter, Heclwig, married Jagello, grand prince 
of Lithuania, and founded a new dynasty, which continued far 
beyond our period. 

The earliest rulers of Russia were called Grand Princes of 
Kiev, and the first of these was Rurik, who reigned in Novgorod 
from 862 to 879. Vladimir, who was afterwards The Grand 
recognised as a saint, the true founder of the Princes of 
Russian empire, reigned in Novgorod from 972 Kiev, 
to 980, and in Kiev from 981 to 1015, having been baptized 
in 988. His dominions extended from the mountains of 
Volhynia to the gulf of Finland, to the White . 

Sea and the northern Dvina, to the Oka and yiadimir. 
the cataracts of the Dnieper, and in the south 
were only separated from the Black Sea and the Crimea by 
the Petschenegen and the Chazars. After Vladimir's death, 
his crown was disputed by his two sons, Svatopluk, who reigned 
at Kiev, and Jarislav, who remained at Novgorod ; but eventually 
Jarislav was recognised as the successor of Vladimir, and had 
a long reign, from 1016 to 1054. At his death he divided 
his kingdom amongst his five sons, the eldest, however, main- 
taining a position of superiority over the rest. He, however, 
proved an entire failure. The " Golden Horde " of the Mongols 
invaded the country, and became masters of it 
in 1241. But the race of Rurik survived, and i nvas i on 
continued to assert its claims to the principality 
of Kiev. At length, in 1328, Ivan Kalita, grandson of Saint 
Alexander Nevski, founded the principality of Moscow, which 
he held till 1340. He defeated the Mongols in 
the plain of Kulikov, on the upper Don, and Qreat 
the horde was dispersed. Moscow now became 
the capital of the new kingdom, and the power of the Mongols 
was finally broken by Ivan III., who reigned from 1462 to 1505. 
He gave unity to the Russian empire, making it one in 
language, religion, and government ; and, after the capture of 
Constantinople by the Turks in 1456, made Russia the successor 
of the Byzantine empire by marrying Zoe (called in Russia 
Sophia) Paleologus, in 1472. 



494 A GENERAL HISTORY [] 288-1453 



3. The Turkish Empire, a.d. 1288-1453. 

The Turkish empire was founded by Osman in 1288. He 
was the head of a conquering horde who, in the first half of the 
thirteenth century, had, to escape the sword of the 
Mongols, wandered from Chorassan, where they had 
previously lived, to join their cousins, the Seljukian Turks, in 
Armenia. They numbered 50,000 souls. When Genghis Khan 
died in 1227, they attempted to return to their country, but 
Suleiman was drowned in crossing a river, leaving four sons. 
Two of them reached Chorassan, but the other two went west- 
ward, and found protection with Aladdin, sultan of Iconium. 
One of them, Ertughrul (1231-1288), was able to establish him- 
self in Karahissar in Asia Minor, which became the cradle of 
the Turkish empire. Osman succeeded him in 1299. Osman 
was a great conqueror. He obtained possession 
of Chios, which he used for the subjugation of the 
other islands of the Aegean. Cenchrea, Philadelphia, Sardis, and 
Ephesus fell into his hands. He treated the Christians with 
great barbarity, from Thasos to Rhodes, from Troy to Cnidus. 
He even threatened Constantinople, which was weakly defended 
by its Emperor Andronicus. In 1326, Orchan, son of Osman, 
entered Brusa in triumph, and the news of its fall cheered the 
deathbed of the aged sultan. His body was bulled in the palace 
chapel at Brusa, and the silver casket which held his remains 
was long an object of pious pilgrimage. Osman was a nomad 
prince of genius, who owed his success to his sword, his bravery, 
his religious zeal, and the nobility of his character. His son, 
Orchan, reigned from 1326 to 1359, and soon became master of 
Nicaea and Nicomeclia. 

Nicomedia fell in the year 1326, and, two years later, Andro- 
nicus III. became sole emperor of Constantinople, reigning 
till 1341. He lost Mcaea by the battle of Philo- 
of Orchan crene in 1330, and from this time the Turks were 
masters of the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus. 
Shortly afterwards, Bithynia fell into the hands of the Osmanlis, 
and Mysia, with Lydia and Ionia, followed the same fate. Orchan 
founded the Janissaries, a body of converted young 
- e . . Christian soldiers, forming a brotherhood or re- 
ligious oicler, who fought manfully for their new 
faith, but at last became too powerful, and the Spahis, the 
kernel of the Turkish cavalry. Andronicus III. was followed in 



1288-1453] EASTERN EUROPE 495 

the government of Constantinople by Kantakuzenos (1341-1347), 
who acted as the guardian of John Paleologus, a boy of nine 
years old. He was opposed by the high admiral, Apokaukos, 
who conspired with Anna of Savoy, the empress-mother, so that 
the empire was distracted by civil war. An arrangement was 
made in 1347 by which Kantakuzenos was to keep the regency 
for ten years, and the young emperor was to marry his daughter. 
At the same time, his daughter Theodora was married to the 
aged sultan, by which he secured the assistance of the Osmanlis. 
Eventually, by the co-operation of the Genoese, Kantakuzenos was 
deprived of his power, and spent the rest of his life as a monk 
on Mount Athos, while John Paleologus held the Byzantine 
throne till 1391. 

It is said that during the hundred years which preceded the 
fall of Constantinople in 1453 the Turks crossed the Bosphorus 
twenty times. In the eighteenth of these expedi- 
tions, Suleiman Pasha, son of Orchan, conquered in Europe- 
Gallipoli in 1356. He died in 1358, and two 
months later was followed to the grave by his father. Murad, 
Orchan's second son (1359-1389), conquered Adrianople, and 
made Servia and Bulgaria tributary. He confirmed the Turkish 
possession of Asia Minor. In June 1389 was fought the fatal 
battle of Kossovo, the " blackbird " field, in which 
Christians fought against Turks for the possession Kossovo 
of Eastern Europe, and the Christians were beaten. 
Lazarus, prince of Servia, commanded an army comprising 
Bosnians, Albanians, Wallachians, Herzegovinians, and a certain 
number of Hungarians and Bulgarians. No battle was ever fought 
with more personal energy and vigour. Man fought against man, 
breast to breast. Murad and his son Bajezid, with his iron mace, 
performed prodigies of valour. At last victory inclined to the side 
of the Turks, whose unity prevailed over the disunion of the Chris- 
tians. But both the leaders perished. Lazarus fell in the battle, 
and Murad was murdered by a servant. He was buried in Brusa, 
and was honoured with the titles of lord and conqueror. Bajezid 
(1389-1403) was saluted as emperor on the field of Kossovo. 

John Paleologus, being devoted to his second son Manuel, 
had excluded his son Andronicus and his son John from the 
succession in his favour, blinded them, and thrown Baiezid 
them into prison. Hearing of Murad' s death, and the 
they escaped to Bajezid and claimed his assistance. Byzantine 
He gave them an auxiliary force of 6000 cavalry Succession, 
and 4000 infantry, by which John and Manuel were conquered 



496 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1288 to 

and Andronicus was placed upon the throne. He refused to put 
his father and his brother to death as Bajezid advised, the 
consequence of which was that they also fled to Bajezid and 
persuaded him to effect their restoration. As Andronicus and 
John still retained some of their power, Bajezid was master of 
the situation, much as Napoleon was in his dealings with the 
court of Spain. All these events led to the battle 

W o & Y °^ ^i 00 ? ^ 8 ! fought in September 1396, the decisive 

moment of a new crusade, preached by the pope, 
instigated and led by the future Emperor Sigismund, supported 
by French and Germans, English and Poles. The crusaders 
marched together to join Sigismund's Hungarian forces, which 
raised their numbers to something like 100,000 well armed troops. 
But the bravely contested struggle was decided in favour of the 
Turks, though, while the Christians lost 12,000 men, among them 
some of the noblest blood of France, the losses of the Turks 
numbered 20,000. Constantinople was in abject terror, but 
Manuel refused to capitulate to Bajezid, and in 1399 abdicated 
in favour of his nephew John, and journeyed to western Europe 
in a vain search for assistance. 

Bajezid had now to withstand the onslaught of a more 
powerful enemy in the person of Timur the Mongol, called 
Tamur the Lame or Tamerlane, a successor of 
amer ane. Q^ghig Khan, whose empire he endeavoured to 
revive. Having conquered Chorassan and Kandahar, he set 
out in 1380 to reduce Persia. He occupied the Caucasus, 
Armenia, and Mesopotamia, and, in 1390, attacked southern 
Russia, and, in 1398, India. In 1400 he was recalled from 
the banks of the Ganges to put down a rebellion, and this time 
came into contact with Bajezid. In 1401, he marched into 
Syria, destroyed Aleppo, burned Damascus, and then, turning 
back to Persia, stormed Bagdad. At last a battle was fought 
between him and Bajezid at Angora, on July 20, 1402, in which 
Bajezid was defeated and taken prisoner ; while Timur was pre- 
paring to carry him to Samarcand to adorn his triumph, he died 
on March 8, 1403, and was followed to the grave by Timur 
himself on February 19, 1405, when he was about to invade 
China. Timur's empire fell to pieces after his death, but he 
left a representative in India in the person of the Great Mogul. 

Bajezid left several sons, who resided in their respective 
appanages, Suleiman in Adrianople, Mohammed in Tokat, Musa 
in Kntahia, and Isa in Brusa. Mohammed was the strongest, 
and, after ten years of strife, ruled alone from 1413 to 1421. 



a.d. 1453] EASTERN EUROPE 497 

He may be regarded as the second founder of the Osman 

empire. His successor, Murad II. (1421-1451), began by 

attacking Constantinople, but without effect. John Conquests of 

VII., Paleologus, son of Manuel, held the throne Mohammed 

of Byzantium from 1425 to 1448. Murad II. and Murad II. 

pursued a career of victory. He conquered Thessalonica in 1430, 

came into conflict with the Venetians, and besieged Belgrade, 

the outpost of the Hungarian kingdom, in 1440. The Turks 

were driven back by John Hunyadi, who conducted 

a heroic struggle in 1441 and 1442. At this time i ,. 

a serious attempt was made to unite the Greek 

and Latin churches, and in 1438, John VII., Paleologus, went 

to Italy for this purpose. A council was held first at Ferrara 

and then at Florence, and Pope Eugenius IV. and 

the Greek emperor — the heads of the Greek and Council of 

Latin churches respectively — were addressed by 

Cardinal Julian in Latin and by Cardinal Bessarion in Greek. 

The conference found the chief obstacles to union in the question 

whether the Holy Ghost proceeded from God the Father alone 

or from the Father and the Son, and in the papal claim to 

supremacy. A temporary union was secured by means of vague 

formulae, but the bitterness between the churches remained 

and prevented co-operation against the infidel. 

Still an attempt at co-operation was made. Eugenius preached 
a crusade, but in this the political interests were more powerful 
than the religious. However, in 1443, an army, ^ n 
collected chiefly from the east of Europe, set forth attempted 
accompanied by Cardinal Julian. The Danube Crusade. 
was crossed, and Sophia and Nissa were conquered by Hunyadi 
on November 3, the Turks being defeated in a battle near 
the latter town. The war was closed by the peace of Szegedin, 
in July 1444, by which the Danube was fixed as the frontier 
between the Turks and the Hungarians. Murad now abdicated 
in favour of his son, Mohammed, who was fourteen years of 
age. This led to a breach of the peace of Szegedin, and to 
a new campaign, in which Castriota, prince of Albania, better 
known as Skanderbeg, was the leading figure. The western 
powers refused their assistance, so that the invading army 
did not exceed 30,000 men. It was attacked by second 
Murad at Varna on November 10, 1444, and Battle of 
entirely defeated. In 1449, a second battle took Kossovo. 
place on the field of Kossovo, where, after a three days' 
conflict, the Hungarians were entirely routed by the Turks. 

2 1 



498 A GENERAL HISTORY [1288-1453 

Hunyadi and Castriota remained the onl}' champions of 
Christianity. On February 5, 1451, Murad II. died, after 
having found a suitable wife for his son, Mohammed, who 
now became sultan. 

The fall of Constantinople was not long delayed. The last 
emperor of Byzantium was Constantine XII., Paleologus, 

who succeeded in 1448. He at first attempted 
stantino le to renew friendly relations with the Turks, to 

which Mohammed was not averse. The young 
Sultan even went to Byzantium to make a truce with Hunyadi, 
but he knew that the fall of the great city could not be long 
delayed. Constantine did everything in his power to defend 
his capital : he sent for assistance to the pope and the other 
princes of Europe, who returned nothing but empty promises. 
The Western Christians were more enraged against the Eastern 
heretics than they were against the common foe of all Christen- 
dom. In the spring of 1453, Mohammed besieged Constanti- 
nople by both land and sea. He made use of a colossal cannon, 
cast in Wallachia, drawn by fifty pairs of oxen and two hundred 
men. His forces consisted of some 150,000 soldiers, his navy of 
420 ships, to which the Greeks could only oppose 6000 of their 
own troops and 3000 auxiliaries. But, even in the crisis, the 
strife between the orthodox party and their opponents con- 
tinued. At last the storm took place, on May 23, 1453. The 
brave emperor took his stand opposite the Janissaries, but he 
did not gain his desire of being slain by a Christian. At 
midday, the conquering sultan entered the town, and gave 
thanks for his victory in the cathedral of St. Sophia, which 
was soon after to become a mosque. 



CHAPTER XV. 

FLORENCE, A.D. 1429-1492— THE END OF THE MIDDLE 
AGES, A.D. 1453-1519. 

The fall of Constantinople, in 1453, has by many writers been 
considered as the close of medieval history and the beginning 
of a new period of development. A large por- The End of 
tion of the civilised world is henceforth cut off the Middle 
from the interests of central Europe, which is Ages, 
the chief object of our attention, and that portion of Europe 
begins to extend itself towards the west, creating new objects 
of interest and founding a new centre of gravity for the affairs 
of the world — a process which is still going on. But so much 
of the medieval spirit remained in life and in government that 
it is more convenient to fix the date of the tiansition some 
fifty years later — at the discovery of America, or the expedition 
of Charles VIII. into Italy, or even the accession of Charles 
V. It is impossible to embrace these years in a single view, 
and it is not the object of this book to give a detailed account 
of the states of Europe which now begin to form themselves, 
so we must hurry towards the end. But, before narrating the 
close of the Middle Ages,, it will be convenient to describe the 
fortunes of Florence under the government of the Medici as 
an example of the transition which was taking place elsewhere. 

We have already heard of the Medici — of Giovanni, who 
defended his city against the assaults of the Visconti of Milan 
in the north and of Ladislaus of Naples in the 
south, and died in 1429, leaving his power and f Florence 
fortune to his sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo. At 
this time, Florence, having subdued her rival, Pisa, was in 
undisputed possession of the whole course of the Arno from 
the Casentino to the sea, and controlled the commerce of Tuscany. 
Her love of freedom and commerce had so developed that she 
stood on a pinnacle of greatness when the other cities of 
Europe were losing their power. The city was full of splendid 
buildings, unrivalled works of art, of sturdy men and beautiful 

499 



5oo A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1429 to 

women. Arezzo and Volterra recognised her supremacy, and 
she cast longing eyes on Lucca and Siena. The most dreaded 
of the Condottieri, the commanders of bands of mercenaries, 
preferred the service of Florence to that of any other city, 
because she was always able to pay them their wages. 

The Albizzi, who were the rivals and enemies of the Medici, 
determined to drive them out of the city, which was the usual 
The Albizzi course taken in Italian political quarrels, and 
and the struck at Oosimo. They invited him to the 

Medici. Town Hall, which, under the name of the Old 

Palace, still dominates the great square of the city, and, when 
he came there, deaf to the warnings of his friends, threw him 
into prison. He was in clanger of poison and also of being 
condemned to death, but he succeeded, by bribery, in commuting 
his sentence to banishment, and was sent for ten years to Padua, 
his friends and relations suffering the same fate. This happened 
in 1433. Cosimo was received at Padua with the greatest honour, 
and the rulers of Venice, whither he soon removed, treated him 
not as a banished man, but as one of the highest rank. His 
friends in Florence were active in his favour, and when, in August 
1434, the government of Florence was renewed, it was found 
that the ballot boxes were filled with names which belonged to 
Triumph of the party of the Medici. A rising took place in 
Cosimo de the city which reached its height on September 26. 
Medici. The aristocratic party, headed by the Albizzi and 

Peruzzi, were defeated, and would probably have been put to death 
if it had not been for the intervention of Pope Eugenius IV., 
who happened to be in Florence. As it was, they were either 
imprisoned or banished, and Cosimo and his friends and sup- 
porters were recalled from exile. He was greeted at the gates 
of the city by a joyous crowd, as the father of his people, and 
the saviour of the republic. Serious and magnanimous, he 
did not attempt to avenge himself, but endeavoured to secure 
the favour of the citizens by liberality and bene- 
t Ri licence. The commercial operations of the Medici 

extended over the whole world, and were the 
strength of Florence. By the wealth of the Medici, she was 
able to hold the balance between Milan and Venice on the one 
hand and the king of Naples on the other. She had also become 
the metropolis of western culture and a centre of enlighten- 
ment for the civilised world. To this period is due her majestic 
cathedral, dedicated to our Lady of the Flower, and consecrated 
by the pope himself. As we have heard, a council for the 



A.D-. 1492] FLORENCE 501 

reconciliation of the Western and Eastern churches was held 
in Florence, which was a great honour for the town. 

Machiavelli, the historian of Florence, tells us that Oosimo 
was a man of middle height, of dark, olive complexion, and of 
noble mien. He was eloquent in speech, and, though with no 
learning himself, loved and honoured it in others. He intro- 
duced the study of Greek into Florence, and founded a Platonic 
Academy. The head of it was the great scholar Marsilio Ficino, 
whom he established in his palace, and also gave him a country 
house in the neighbourhood of his own villa at Careggi, where 
he might have more leisure to pursue his studies. Cosimo ruled 
the state for thirty-nine years, with honour and distinction. 
He died at the age of seventy-six, in 1464, and was succeeded by 
his grandsons Lorenzo and Giuliano, their father Pietro being 
alive, but weak in body and in mind, having always to be carried 
about in a litter. 

Cosimo had a rival iu the person of Luca Pitti, who built the 
great palace in Florence which now bears his name, and is the 
habitation of the king of Italy. An attempt of the Pitti to 
assert their power, in 1466, only made the Medici stronger than 
ever. The friends of the Pitti were banished, and the republic 
soon assumed the appearance of a monarchy. When Lorenzo 
was married to Clarice Orsini in June 1469, the festivities were 
celebrated with all the magnificence of a court. Pietro, the 
father of the two brothers, was released from his miserable life 
six months later, and Lorenzo, always called the 
Magnificent, was acknowledged as head of the ° ren p° ih ^ 
family, and was regarded, together with his brother 
Giuliano, as a prince. The lordship of Lorenzo lasted for twenty- 
two years, from 1469 to 1492, a golden age for art and science 
in Florence. The form of republican institutions still remained, 
but the government was virtually a monarchy. But the exiles 
refused to accept the state of things, and worked hard for their 
return and for the overthrow of the brothers. For this, Bernardo 
Nardi was beheaded at Florence in April 1470, and the town of 
Volterra, which had joined their side, was captured in 1472, and 
was compelled to receive a Florentine garrison. 

The conquest of Volterra increased the reputation of Lorenzo. 
Not only was the government entirely in the hands of the 
Medici, but they used their political position for great financial 
speculations which brought many people into their control. 
Almost the whole of the alum mines were in their hands ; they 
had banking houses in many towns and countries, which were 



502 A GENERAL HISTORY U429-U92 

branches of the head bank of Florence, and were directed by 
friends and clients of the central house. They treated the state 
income as if it were their private property. This success excited 
envy and hatred, and the attempts of Prato and Volterra were 
renewed in Florence itself. 

Next to the Medici the most distinguished family in Florence 

was that of the Pazzi. They had, at one time, been members of 

the Medici party. Bianca, the daughter of Pietro, 

c e _^g was married to a Pazzi, and many of the family 
were placed at the head of the Medici banks ; but 
this confidence gradually cooled, and turned into jealousy and 
hate. A cause for quarrel was soon found, and it was not diffi- 
cult for the Pazzi to unite the enemies of the powerful house 
in a conspiracy for its destruction. Among them was Pope 
Sixtus IV., and Francesco de' Pazzi, who lived in Rome, came 
to Florence to stir up his cousins. Montesecco, a Oondottiere 
engaged to assist Cardinal Riario, came also, to make the final 
arrangements. It was first intended to murder the brothers 
in their beautiful villa in Fiesole, well known afterwards 
as the Villa Mozzi, but the attempt was given up because 
Giuliano was not present. The crime was therefore consum- 
mated in the cathedral, at the very moment when the priest was 
elevating the host at the altar, and the whole congregation was 
kneeling. It had at first been arranged that one of the Pazzi 
was to murder Giuliano and Montesecco Lorenzo; but the 
Oondottiere refused to commit sacrilege in a church, and the 
crime was entrusted to two priests named Antonio and Stefano, 
who would have less respect for the scene of action, but at the 
same time would be less experienced in assassination. It was 
intended that, after the deed, the conspirators should seize the 
palace of the government, and arrest the priors. On May 2, 
1478, the deed was done. Giuliano fell, but Lorenzo escaped 
with a slight wound. The plot was an entire failure, and was 
punished with condign vengeance. Such was the conspiracy 
of the Pazzi, of which Machiavelli has left us an eloquent 
description. 

The power of the Medici was vastly increased. Lorenzo had 

the authority of a king, but used his position for the advantage 

of the commonwealth. The ages of Pericles and 

Last Years Augustus seemed to revive in Florence. As 
Pope Sixtus IV. had been his enemy, Pope Inno- 
cent VIII., his successor, was his friend. Maddalena Medici 
married Franceschetto Cibo, of the pope's family, and her brother 



1453-15191 END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 503 

Giovanni, who was afterwards Pope Leo X., received the car- 
dinal's hat. At length, Lorenzo's life began to draw to a close. 
He had suffered long from gout, and withdrew himself from 
state affairs, living chiefly in his villas or in baths, where he 
sought alleviation from his pain. Assisted by the learned 
scholars Poliziano and Pico della Mirandola, in whose conver- 
sation he delighted, he gave the education of a statesman to his 
sons Giuliano and Pietro, to make them worthy of their inherit- 
ance. It is said that at the close of his life he sent for the great 
preacher and reformer Savonarola, to ask pardon for his sins, 
but Savonarola refused to give it unless he granted liberty to 
Florence. He died at his villa at Oareggi on April 6, 1492, 
forty-four years old,- and three weeks later Pope Innocent 
followed him to the grave. All Italy seemed to mourn for him. 
Two popes, Leo X. and Clement VII., sprang from his house, 
and two French kings took their wives from the Medici family. 



THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES, 1453-1519. 

The distinguishing mark of the Middle Ages is the authority 
held by the two great powers, the empire and the papacy, — 
sometimes striving for mastery, sometimes uniting Decay of tlie 
for the benefit of civilisation, never attaining the Empire and 
high ideals formed in different ways by Otto III., the Papacy, 
by Hildebrand, and by Dante, of representing in harmony 
the material and spiritual forces of the world. We have seen 
how the papacy, tossed about on a stormy sea, raised to pre- 
dominance by Gregory VII., and Innocent III., lost its power, 
first, by the removal to Avignon, and secondly by the Great 
Schism, not to be restored by the unspiritual culture of Pius 
II., or by the worldly^ strivings of Julius II. The empire was 
now to follow a similar course, and to yield to the in- 
evitable influences of a new age. The Reformation destroyed 
for ever the bond by which the papacy had held together 
the spiritual forces of Europe. Charles V. was the last 
emperor who kept the countries of Europe in even outward 
unity, and all the time each was contending for individual 
independence and development. In Germany the struggle 
between old and new political conceptions im- 
posed its influence and weakened the position of f ?f ^ ss 
the empire. Germany oscillated between a re- 
publican and a monarchical institution. The empire, the terri- 
torial princes, and the towns and the peasant republic of 



504 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1453 to 

Switzerland were engaged in rivalry with each other, cherishing 
different ideals, unwilling to sacrifice any of them to obtain 
a new order of things. Nor were the relations of Germany 
to the other powers of Europe satisfactory. In the East, the 
Slavonic countries were increasing in power to the detriment 
of the Teutons. Something had been done by the creation 
of the German knights and the German conquest of Lithuania, 
but the Polish monarchy was supported by both Bohemia and 
Hungary. This led to a diminution of German influence, 
especially when it was realised that the Slavs and the Magyars 
were the best defence of Western civilisation against the 
invading Turks. 

Pius II. attempted to remedy the loss of Constantinople 
by a new crusade, but times had changed, and religious interests 
Christendom nac ^ given way to political. The Genoese in 
and the Galata made a treaty with the sultan to protect 

Turks. their commerce in the Black Sea ; the doge of 

Venice in vain attempted to declare war. A Diet was held 
at Regensburg in September 1453, where Turkish affairs formed 
a natural subject of discussion. But the apathy of Frederick 
III. and the disunion among the states prevented any common 
action. Aeneas Silvius, the most accomplished diplomat of 
his time, could not, even after (as Pius II.) he had mounted 
the papal throne in 1458, succeed in stirring up the powers 
of Europe against the Turks. The congress which he had 
summoned to meet at Mantua in 1459 only showed the im- 
possibility of a common action ; the southern Slavs were left 
to maintain their independence, — even their existence, — by their 
own strength. 

Frederick III., threatened by a rebellion in Austria, had 

set free his ward Ladislaus of Bohemia, but Ladislaus died on 

T , November 13, 1457, which gave independence to 

Kingdoms Bohemia and Hungary, and dissolved the suze- 

of Bohemia rainty which Austria had exercised over them. 

an d At the beginning of 1458, George Podiebrad was 

Hungary. elected king of Bohemia, and Matthias Corvinus, 

son of John Hunyadi, king of Hungary. It happened that, 

at this time, Podiebrad was the prisoner of Corvinus, but he 

immediately set him free and entered into friendly relations 

with him. These two countries now became national kingdoms 

on an independent basis. Hungary turned her attention to 

the southern plains of Germany : Hussite Bohemia remained 

a thorn in the side of Catholic Germany. Podiebrad found 



a.d. 1519] END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 505 

himself at the head of a powerful national army, and rich in 
mineral wealth. He gained influence in Germany by acting as 
arbitrator between the rival German houses, which were always 
quarrelling with each other. Two important German towns 
remained a firm defence of Teutonic influence. Breslau, German 
and Catholic, refused to bow its neck to Hussite Bohemia, 
and Dantzig set itself in opposition to the Teutonic i^g 
Knights, who, in spite of their name, were be- Teutonic 
coming Slavic in character. Frederick III. dis- Knights, 
solved the Order in September 1453, an action which was 
resisted by its mercenary soldiery, who were largely Bohemian 
and Polish. When the finances of the Order were exhausted, 
the mercenaries attempted to recover their pay by selling to 
their enemies the castles which had been pledged to them for 
it. Chief among them was the stately fortress of Marienburg. 
The Master of the Order took refuge in Konigsberg, and 
in 1466 the war was put an end to by the peace of Thorn. 
The remains of the Order surrendered West Prussia to Poland, 
and received Samland and Pomerania as Polish fiefs. Liibeck, 
the capital of the Hansa, was delighted at the fall of the 
Order, as its members had become commercial rivals, bringing 
their own ships and sending their goods to Flanders, Holland, 
and England, and had thus made themselves unpopulai\ 

At this time arose the Capetian monarchy of Burgundy, 
which originated in the grant of the duchy by ip^g 
King John to his son Philip, and now included Burgundian 
the richest and most prosperous countries of Monarchy, 
western Europe, Brabant and Flanders, which had been since 
the thirteenth century great centres of commerce. There the 
Lombards and the Hansa exchanged their products. Also 
in the fourteenth century a new system of agriculture was 
developed in these countries, which gave them great wealth, 
and the whole of these possessions, consisting of large fiefs 
of land and trading towns, instinct with a republican spirit, 
fell into the power of the dukes of Burgundy. The Burgundian 
court was marked by the splendour of city architecture, by 
the development of painting in oils, by the genius of John 
van Eyck, and Philip de Comines, and by the establishment of 
the Order of the Golden Fleece. The creation of Burgundy 
not only threatened France but weakened Teutonic influence. 
Between 1439 and 1449, Philip the Good destroyed the power 
of town councils in Rotterdam, Haarlem, and Amsterdam. In 
1465 he broke the independence of Liege, and in 1466 he 



506 A GENERAL HISTORY [aj>. 1453 to 

punished with terrible cruelty an attack on his possessions by 
her ally Dinant. When he died in 1467, he left to his son, 
Charles the Bold, an enormous treasure, which made him one 
of the richest and most independent monarchs of Europe. 

Charles' dominions stretched, with occasional interruptions, 
from Friesland to Savoy, — and, while, as a French baron, he 
Projects opposed the centralising policy of Louis XI., and 
of Charles " loved France so much that he wished her to 
the Bold. have six kings instead of only one," — in his own 
lands consolidation and centralisation were his dearest aims. 
He wished to acquire the territory necessary to connect all his 
French and imperial fiefs, and then to convert them into an 
independent centralised kingdom. He began in 1468 by 
annexing Liege. Then he took in pledge the Alsatian pos- 
sessions of Sigismund of Austria, who hoped for his aid against 
the Swiss. In 1472 he made his last direct attack on France, 
ravaging Normandy, ostensibly to avenge Louis' brother Charles, 
whom he alleged to have been poisoned. Henceforward he 
devoted himself more and more to his German schemes. In 
1473 he annexed Guelders, established a protectorate over 
Lorraine, with the right of garrisoning its strongholds, and 
visited Frederick III. to secure a royal crown and the succession 
to the empire, in return for betrothing his heiress, Mary, to 
Frederick's son Maximilian. He failed in these negotiations, 
and meanwhile the harshness of Hagenbach, his agent in Alsace, 
and his own attempts to obtain far more power there than Sigis- 
mund had possessed, drew together in a common alarm the free 
towns of Alsace, — Strassburg, Basel, and other Rhenish cities, 
and some of the Swiss cantons. 

Trading on this alarm and on Sigismund's disappointment at 
Charles' failure to help him, Louis craftily united all parties in 
the League of Constance, to redeem Sigismund's lands. Charles, 
meanwhile, helping the archbishop of Cologne against his 
subjects, was authorised to garrison his towns, and in July 
1474 began to besiege Neuss. But the siege 
Siege of dragged on for nearly a year : it drained his re- 

Nguss CO *J */ 

sources ; it drew into the field against him a great 
imperial army, and even — at last — the reluctant emperor him- 
self. Meantime Hagenbach was done to death by the League ; 
the Swiss attacked Franche Comte ; Ben6 of Lorraine deserted 
Charles for Louis ; Louis invaded the Netherlands and the 
Burgundies ; and Charles' promise to harass France in prepara- 
tion for its invasion by Edward IV. became overdue. 



a.d. 1519] END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 507 

So, in June 1475, Charles abandoned the siege and made 
peace with Frederick. But the English expedition proved a 
fiasco. Charles had no army ready to stipport it. The Constable 
St. Pol, — Edward's uncle by marriage and Charles' ally, — 
played them false. Louis offered a high price for peace. And 
Edward — disgusted with Charles and eager to save the balance of 
his war supplies — accepted the " Treve Marchande " of Pecquigny, 
receiving an indemnity, a pension, a ransom for Margaret of 
Anjou, and the vain promise of the Dauphin's hand for his 
daughter Elizabeth. 

Charles himself, though furious, made a truce with Louis 
which enabled him to conquer Lorraine. But his refusal to 
be content with this and renounce Alsace involved him in 
war with the hated and despised Swiss. Their pikemen easily 
outmatched his Burgundian knights and Lorn- Charles and 
bard mercenaries, and Savoy only lost territory the Swiss— 
by aiding him. He was beaten at Grandson His Defeat 
in March 1476, and at Morat in June. Then and Death. 
Rene attempted to recover Lorraine ; the Swiss — hardly per- 
suaded by Louis — gave their assistance ; and at Nancy, on 
January 5, 1477, Charles' last army was routed, and Charles 
himself killed. 

His death caused democratic movements throughout the 
Netherlands. Mary — distracted between the intrigues of Louis 
and the insolence of the Flemish towns — married Maximilian 
on August 18, 1477. He made peace with the Swiss, but the 
war with the French, who were defeated at Guinegate or 
Therouenne in August 1479, went on till (on March 27, 1482) 
Mary died, leaving two children, Philip and Margaret. Then, 
backed by the Flemish cities, whose jealousy of Maximilian 
made them eager to see him weakened, Louis secured by the 
treaty of Arras the cession of the duchy of Burgundy, while 
both Artois and Franche Comte were assigned as the dowry 
of the child Margaret, who was betrothed and soon formally 
married to the Dauphin, who, however, when king repudiated 
the match and married Anne of Brittany. 

Maximilian was elected King of the Romans in February 
1486. At the outset of his career, he stood between opposing 
forces of great strength. He was not old enough Maximilian 
or sufficiently mature to give effect to the ideal and the 
which he had conceived, and which his edu- Empire. 
cation had implanted in him. He represented two dynasties, 
whose union offered him a predominant position in Europe, but 



508 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1453 to 

their interests were in many respects discordant. He was 
bound to support the power of Austria, but it was difficult to 
obtain the money necessary for these purposes by laying bur- 
dens on the Netherlands. Teutonic influences had suffered severe 
losses in the East, but this was largely compen- 
sated for in the West, by the fall of the power of 
the papacy. Italy was divided into four governments, the feudal 
government of Naples in the south, Milan and Venice in the 
north, and the States of the Church in the centre. Between 
the despotism of the Sforza in Milan and the aristocratic com- 
mercial republic of Venice on the one hand, and the territory 
of the Roman church on the other, the banking house of the 
Medici had obtained a predominant position in Florence by 
their prudence, their wealth, and the political support which 
they had acquired. Their dynasty, founded on finance, brought 
a new factor into the old state system. It was at the same time 
a centre of culture and the leader in a new intellectual move- 
Florence ment. Florence became the asylum for the 
and the Re- classical learning which the capture of Oonstanti- 
naissance. nople by the Turks had driven towards the west. 
The court of the Medici, which has been already described, 
was the birthplace of the Renaissance. A new art and a new 
literature began to nourish, founded on ancient models, instinct 
with the best part of the pagan spirit, and developing a more 
or less constant opposition to the education of the cloister 
which had hitherto prevailed. Even the papacy was affected 
by this new movement, but what it gained in culture it lost 
in moral force, and Germany profited by the woridliness of 
the popes. 

In the midst of these changes the government of Germany 
remained unaltered. The Diet still comprised about forty princes 
and about seventy or eighty imperial towns. 
ny * These princes were beloved and obeyed by their 
subjects, but none of them had as yet developed the despotic 
power which characterised the tyrants of Italy. They were 
chiefly employed in administering peasant communities, and in 
increasing their revenues as much as possible. They were 
assisted by counsellors of gentle birth and by trained jurists. 
But the necessity of a better military organisation, caused by the 
Hussite wars, demanded the raising of new revenues. The 
richest princes were naturally the best armed, and the wealthiest 
of all were those of Saxony, who derived large revenues from the 
silver mines of the Erzgebirge. The military trains, the cannon, 



a.d. 1519] END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 509 

and the horses of Saxony were the best in Germany. Duke 
Albert, who assisted Maximilian in his wars against the Nether- 
lands, was the greatest commander and the richest speculator in 
mines of his age. 

To meet the demand for money, which, at an earlier period, 
had been supplied by the Jews, large Christian banking houses 
were founded in southern Germany. Hans Fugger established a 
banking house in Augsburg, and on his death in 1409 left a 
property of 2000 gulden. In 1473 the Golden Counting House, 
as it was called, of the Fuggers was the largest banking house 
in central Europe, and managed the financial 
affairs of the house of Hapsburg. In 1480 the Bankers""" 1 
house of Roth in Ulm failed for the sum of 80,000 
gulden. These Swabian bankers formed a connecting link 
between Venice and the Netherlands, and also took part in the 
new commerce which was arising between Portugal and the Indies. 
But none of these German houses attained a monarchical position 
like that of the Medici. The activity of the German banks was 
confined by the town councils on the one hand and the guilds 
on the other, and even when they had surmounted these obstacles 
they had little share in the government of the cities to which 
they belonged. As has been already said, they never produced 
a despot, and the German towns were spared the party conflicts 
which distracted Italian cities. 

The Emperor Maximilian was essentially a despotic re- 
former. He was the organiser of German mercenaries, the 
creator of that type of military government called " Regiment," 
in which the principal offices were held by the standard-bearer, 
the captain, the sergeant, and the mayor. They had courts of 
their own, and, when judgment had been pronounced, the lands- 
knechts stood around and stabbed the condemned prisoner to 
death with their spears. He helped to form the Tn e 
Swabian League, the object of which was to provide Swabian 
the empire with a more efficient army. This came League, 
into existence in February 1488, but, just a month before, Maxi- 
milian had been taken prisoner in the market-place of Bruges. 
He was not released till May, when he had renounced the regency 
of Flanders and had sworn to dismiss his troops. The emperor, 
his father, soon came to his assistance with a large army collected 
by the Swabian League, upon which Maximilian recalled his 
oath, and proceeded to punish those towns which had treated 
him so badly. By the help of the Swabian League, Maximilian 
was able to strengthen his position both in the Netherlands and 



510 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1453 to 

Austria. In May 1490, Sigismund, count of Tyrol, abdicated 

in his favour; King Matthias Corvinus died on April 6, 1490; 

and, a few months afterwards, Maximilian, with the assistance 

of the army of the league, drove the Turks back again to their 

own country, and his title as king of Hungary was recognised 

by Ladislaus of Bohemia, who had been elected king of Hungary 

after the death of Matthias. This arrangement was confirmed 

by the treaty of Pressburg in 1491. In 1492, Albert of Saxony 

completed the pacification of the Netherlands. In May 1493, 

Maximilian concluded the treaty of Senlis, by which Charles 

VIII , having married Anne of Brittany, returned 

Accession of Franche Oo nite and Artois. When Frederick III. 
Maximilian. n . n . , _,. , . n „ ., P1TT 

died on August 19, 1493, the power or the Haps- 

burgs was completely established both on the lower Rhine and on 
the Danube, and the result was greatly due to the Swabian League. 
Outside Germany, Europe was governed partly by monarchs 
and partly by aristocracies. Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Bohemia, 
and Hungary had aristocratic constitutions with very limited 
monarchies. On the other hand, the monarchies of France and 
England were strengthened by their struggles with the powerful 
families. In England the Tudors were at the head of a nobility 
which had been sorely weakened by the Wars of the Roses. The 
Valois kings of France had formed a standing army to keep 
down their vassals. They possessed a^ copious supply of mer- 
cenaries in the Swiss, and after the conclusion of the war with 
England, the fall of Charles the Bold, and the annexation of 
Provence, they ruled over a kingdom which presented a geo- 
graphical and a national whole. 

At the same time, the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon 
with Isabella of Castile, and the conquest of Granada, had 
created in Spain the mightiest monarchy in Europe. 
The Spanish rpj ie no bi es sa nk under the power of the crown, 
now that the Moorish wars were at an end. The 
Inquisition, which had begun to act in 1480 against Moorish 
ancl Jewish heretics, became, under the protection of the crown, 
the most dangerous implement of Spanish absolutism against 
The States every kind of opposition. In Italy, the States 
of the of the Church, under Pope Alexander VI., who 

Church. reigned from 1484-1503, grew to be the seat 

of a military despotism, so that, with the exception of Venice, 
the whole of the peninsula was filled with monarchical govern- 
ments. In the midst of this condition of things, Germany 
remained with her ancient antiquated constitution. 



a.d. 1519] END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 511 

Just at this time, Charles VIII., king of France, marched 
over the Alps to invade Italy, crossing the mountains in August 
1494, and entering Naples in 1495. The bastard Charles 
house of Aragon, which since 1435 had taken the VIII. 
place of the Angevin dynasty in southern Italy, invades 
retired to Sicily on March 30, 1495 ; but Maxi- Naples, 
milian joined the powerful league which Ferdinand the Catholic 
now made with the pope, Milan, and Venice against France. 
At the beginning of April, he invested Ludovico Sfoiza, whose 
daughter he had married, with the fief of Milan, on condition 
that it should revert to the empire. Just before this, on March 
26, he had opened his first Diet at Worms, and had obtained 
from the German Estates not only a supply of money for his 
journey to Rome, but funds for the creation of a Maximilian 
standing army against the enemies of the empire, and the 
In the same year, Charles VIII., having left Estates, 
garrisons in Naples, returned to upper Italy. On July 6, 
he defeated at Fornovo the army of the league, which was 
lying in wait for him in the north of the Apennines, and the 
politicians in Worms were alarmed lest he should conquer 
Milan and attack the Netherlands. This fear brought about 
a closer union between the emperor and his Estates on August 
7, 1495. It was settled that Maximilian should receive a new 
contribution from the empire, called the Common Penny, being 
partly a property, partly an income, partly a poll tax. A new 
Diet was to meet every year to control expenses, decide peace 
and war, and promulgate the judgments of the imperial courts. 

This was the first serious attempt to reform the German 
constitution, but the circumstances of the country prevented 
it from coming into operation. The imperial Failure of 
knights clamoured for their ancient right of Attempts at 
serving the empire with the sword, and objected Reform, 
to commute this service for a money payment. The Swiss 
refused to accept the decisions of the imperial courts, and 
remained firm in their connection with France. The Nether- 
lands followed an independent policy of their own. Philip, 
the son of Maximilian, who, a short time before had married 
the Spanish princess Joanna, made a separate peace with France 
in 1498, to the great disgust of his father. Maximilian himself 
cared more about retaining the strength of the empire in his 
own hands in order to play an important part in European 
politics, than about establishing a new constitution. He opposed 
with a certain asperity of temper the movement for reform, 



512 A GENERAL HISTORY [aj>. 1453 to 

and he was irritated by successive failures in his foreign| policy. 
At the same time, the Estates watched every movement of their 
sovereign with natural anxiety, being alarmed lest their liberty 
should be endangered by a successful war with an external 
foe. In this manner, Maximilian failed to gain a secure 
position for the imperial power against the Estates, and the 
supporters of reform were not able to find a permanent basis 
for the creation of the new constitution. The Swabian League, 
which was the chief support of the king, threatened to fail 
him, and the Swabian towns would have broken away from 
it if it had not been held together by the imperial knights. 
The weakness of its military organisation was shown in the 
war which it undertook against the Swiss in 1499. Maxi- 
Abortive milian suffered a double defeat by the French 
Schemes of occupation of Milan in August of the same year, 
Maximilian, and by being compelled, a month later, to recog- 
nise the independence of Switzerland. Notwithstanding this, 
he would not give up his plans for the subjugation of Italy, 
and he made concessions to the Diet of Augsburg in 1500, 
in order to obtain supplies. But these arrangements came 
to nothing, and he was obliged to invest the king of France 
with the duchy of Milan. 

During the next' five years his position improved. He had 
many friends among the princes ; his son Philip succeeded 
to the possession of Castile; he obtained a victory over the 
Elector Palatine ; and the opposition in Germany was seriously 
weakened by the death of Berthold of Mainz, who was its 
principal leader. He was able, therefore, in 1505, to obtain 
from a Diet, held at Cologne, sufficient supplies for an ex- 
pedition against Hungary, which was successful, and confirmed 
his hold on that kingdom. In 1506, Philip died, leaving two 
young sons, Charles and Ferdinand. This made it not im- 
probable that a monarchy which would embrace the empire 
of Germany and the kingdom of Spain would be permanently 
established, and the result was that the emperor met with 
much opposition in the Diet held at Constance in 1507. When, 
the following year, he joined France in a war against Venice 
by the league of Cambrai, matters became worse, although in 
1509 the Fuggers gave him a supply of 170,000 gulden. 
He held his last Diet in Augsburg in 1518. Here the 
electors declared that they would not submit themselves to 
the decisions of the imperial courts, thus opposing the very 
principles which they had before supported. The supplies 



a.d. 1519] END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 513 

which he asked for an expedition against Turkey were refused, 

the princes saying that they must first discuss the matter 

with their Estates. Consequently, when Maximilian died on 

January 12, 1519, the constitution of the German 

• J ■ ,.,. p 1 j. j- i Death of 

empire was in a condition 01 complete disorder. Maximilian 

Germany had failed in the attempt to form 
herself into a nation, while other countries had succeeded in 
doing so. The consequence was that the national energy was 
diverted from political struggles into the domain of religion, 
and questions of church reform occupied the attention of 
Germany for a hundred and thirty years. 

We find that, at the close of the Middle Ages, the two great 
powers who ruled the European world— the empire and the 
papacy — had completely changed their character. £ n( j f the 
Maximilian had assumed the title of emperor, Middle 
not only without being crowned in St. Peter's, Ages, 
but without receiving the consent of the pope to the innovation. 
The efforts of the papacy under Julius II. were directed 
entirely to a military despotism in the centre of Italy. Under 
him as well as under his predecessor and successor, Alexander VI. 
and Leo X., the papal court was completely divorced from 
religious ideals, and was surrounded by an atmosphere of 
intellectual culture, which on the one hand destroyed the 
traditions of the faith, and on the other weakened the funda- 
mental principles of morality. The monastic orders had entirely 
lost their ancient discipline. The state system of the western 
world no longer recognised the authority of the emperor or 
the pope, and the era of modern history may be said to have 
begun. 



2 K 



BOOK III. 

CHAPTER I. 

CHAKLES V. AND THE REFORMATION, A.D. 1519-1556. 

In the first half of the sixteenth century, Charles V., who united 
the possessions of Burgundy and the Hapsburgs, was in posses- 
sion of an empire such as the world had not seen 
since Charles the Great. He was born at Ghent ch^l* V 
in the year 1500, a man of singular prudence, of 
acute intellect and untiring industry, eminent both in council 
and in the field. He was silent and determined, and carried 
out the policy which he had fixed, sometimes with more tenacity 
than scrupulosity. His body was weak, tormented with gout ; 
his pale face and melancholy expression gave, at first sight, 
little promise of his genius. His possessions were enormous. 
Inheriting the Netherlands as a child on the death of his father 
Philip, he succeeded as a boy of sixteen to the monarchy of 
Spain, including the kingdom of Sicily and Naples, together 
with the new discoveries in America and the islands of the 
West Indies. At the age of nineteen, he became sovereign of 
the Austrian possessions of the house of Hapsburg, which he 
handed over to his younger brother, Ferdinand, first to govern 
and then to possess, and six months later, on June 28, 1519, 
he succeeded his grandfather, Maximilian, as emperor. With 
truth it might be said that he governed an empire over which 
the sun never set. It happened that he had two Charles 
great rivals in Europe, Francis I., who was king Francis,' and 
of France from 1515 to 1547, and Henry VIII,, Henry, 
who was king of England from 1509 to 1547. Seldom has the 
world seen three sovereigns of such singular capacity reigning 
together side by side. The two last mentioned were very like 
each other, but formed a singular contrast to Charles. They 
were passionate and impetuous, Charles slow and cautious. 
The morality of all alike was loose, but, while Francis was 



516 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1519 to 

governed by his mistresses, and Henry largely influenced by his 
wives, Charles sought guidance from experienced statesmen, the 
chief of whom was Granvella. Between Francis and Charles 
there ruled a bitter jealousy. Charles got the upper hand, but 
Francis was always a thorn in his side, and after the divorce 
of Catherine of Aragon Henry took the side of Francis. 

The Reformation, begun by Luther in the little university 
of Wittenberg, in 1517, spread with surprising rapidity. It 
The Re- conquered the north of Germany, made great 

formation progress in Franconia and Swabia, on the Rhine 
in Germany. an( j the Danube, and extended itself from Frank- 
fort over Alsace and Lorraine. It was especially supported by 
the towns. In 1525, Albert of Brandenburg, Master of the 
Teutonic Knights, became a Protestant, and his example was 
followed in Curland and Livonia. The teaching of Luther 
made its way into Sweden under Gustavus Vasa — into Denmark, 
Norway, and Iceland under Christian III. It conquered in 
Bohemia and Hungary, where the reigning house remained true 
to the ancient faith, but the reformers obtained freedom of 
religion and equality before the law. Kings found the Pro- 
testant faith more favourable to their independence than the 
Catholic. The house of Wettin in Saxony was divided into 
two lines, the Ernestine and the Albertine, the royal house of 
England being descended from the latter. The princes of the 
elder line, Frederick the Wise, John the Steadfast, and his son 
John Frederick, were ardent supporters of the Reformation. 

What Luther had effected in Germany, Zwingli began in 
Switzerland, but, while the first laid stress on the purity of 
religious belief, the second, a strong republican, 
Zwingli m p a id more attention to social and political reform, 
and they differed hopelessly in their views of the 
Mass. The teaching of Zwingli took root in Zurich and Bern, 
and in the eastern cantons, and might have been accepted 
by the whole confederation had not its author perished in the 
. battle of Kappel in 1431. Calvin, who agreed 

with Luther in his doctrines of predestination, 
but with Zwingli in his views about sacraments and the 
government of the church, occupied a middle position. From 
Geneva, which was entirely under his control, his teaching 
spread to Holland, to the south of France, and even to Italy and 
Spain, while it founded the presbyterian church of Scotland. 
In Germany it was represented by the Catechism of Heidel- 
berg, which was bitterly opposed by the Lutherans. It also 



ad. 1556] CHARLES V. AND REFORMATION 517 

laid great hold on the clear and logical intellect of France, 
though Francis I. had in 1515 concluded a Concordat with 
Pope Leo X., which gave the Gallic church a i>he 
certain character of independence and placed it Gallican 
under the authority of the crown. The In qui- Concordat. 
sition made short work of the Reformation in Spain, its 
adherents being partly imprisoned and partly burned, in 
what were called Autos-da-Fe, or Acts of Faith. In Italy it 
was welcomed by the Humanists, and protected in Ferrara by 
the house of Este. In the Roman dominions it had not much 
chance, and was extinct before the end of the century. In 
Spain and Italy a new sect arose under Socinus, 
who died in 1561, and his nephew Faustus, who situs'"" 1 
denied the divinity of Christ and the doctrine of 
the Trinity, giving rise to the Socinians in Poland and the 
Unitarians in England. The Spaniard Servetus, who held 
similar opinions, was burned by Calvin in Geneva (1533). 

Martin Luther, the originator of these divisions, was born 
at Eisleben in Thuringia on November 10, 1483, the same year 
as Raphael, which shows that the Renaissance 
and the Reformation were connected. He was 
educated for the law, first at Eisenach and then at Erfurt, 
but changed his mode of life, and became an Augustinian monk. 
After deep reflection, and many conflicts of the soul, he came to 
the conclusion that man was to be saved not by works but by 
faith, through the mercy of God in Christ. By the advice 
of his friend, Staupitz, the head of his order, he removed to 
the university of Wittenberg, recently founded by Frederick 
the Wise, where he gave theological lectures. He worked very 
hard in preaching and in the government of his convent, and, 
in 1511, came to Rome, where he lodged in the Augustinian 
church of the Piazza del Popolo. Some years later, Pope Leo X., 
in order to obtain money for the building of St. Peter's, issued 
a bull offering indulgences — that is, a remission -j-ne 
of the pains of purgatory — for various sums of Question of 
money, and the Dominican Tetzel was entrusted Indulgences, 
with the sale of these in Saxony. This aroused the anger of 
Luther, who resented the action with all the energy of his 
nature. On All Saints' Eve, 1517, he fixed on the doors of the 
Castle Church of Wittenberg ninety-five theses, in which he 
declared that the pope had no right to promise absolution on 
these terms, and that forgiveness of sins could come from 
God alone. In consequence of this, he was tried before the 



518 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. loio to 

Dominican Oajetan, in Augsburg, in October 1518. The result 
was uncertain. Luther appealed to a " better instructed pope," 
and took refuge with his protector, Frederick. The Emperor 
Maximilian died in January 1519, and it became necessary to 
choose a successor. Some of the electors were in favour of 
Frederick the Wise, but the pope, afraid of Charles, supported 
Francis I. of France, and Frederick took his side. The pope 
sent his chamberlain, Miltiz, to Germany, to offer to Frederick 
the Golden Rose. Miltiz tried to accommodate matters with 
Luther, admitted that there were abuses in the indulgences, 
and persuaded him to admit the supremacy of the Roman see. 
But John Eck, professor in Ingolstadt, summoned Luther to 
a disputation at Leipzig, which had the effect of driving him 
still further in the direction of reform. At this time, also, he 
was joined by the great scholar, Philip Melanchthon, who lived 
from 1497 to 1560, and whose activity in founding Protestant 
schools earned for him the title of the Preceptor of Germany. 
Eck now went to Rome, and persuaded the pope to issue a bull 
condemning Luther's principles, and ordering that his books 
should be burnt, and that he should retract within sixty days. 
This drove Luther to deny the infallibility both of the pope and 
the councils, and, on December 19, 1520, he marched with a 
number of students to the Elster Gate at Leipzig, and there 
solemnly burnt the pope's bull and some volumes of canon law. 

When Charles was crowned at Aachen, at the beginning of 
1521, he was advised by Hiitten, Sickingen, and others to place 

himself at the head of the reforming movement, 
u er at j^ ^ )e p p e » s l e g a te, Aleander, persuaded him 

to take the other side. A Diet was held at Worms 
on April 16, 1521, which Luther attended, not without fears 
of suffering the fate of Huss. He boldly acknowledged him- 
self the author of his writings, said that he could not retract 
unless it were shown that his opinions were opposed to Scrip- 
ture, and ended with the memorable words, " Here I stand : I 
cannot do otherwise, God help me, Amen ! " He left the Diet 
in safety, but, on May 26, his opinions were solemnly con- 
demned by an imperial decree. Luther, under the protection 
of Frederick, lay hid in the Wartburg for nearly a year, under 
the name of " Gentleman George." During his absence, Carl- 
stadt, who had assisted him at Leipzig, defended his principles 
at Wittenberg, but his cause was weakened by intemperate 
adherents, such as the Prophets of Zwickau and the Anabaptists. 
Yet the Reformation spread rapidly in Germany. Luther trans- 



a.d. 1556] CHARLES V. AND REFORMATION 519 

lated the Bible, which he issued in parts, completing it in 1534. 
Hans Sachs, the shoemaker poet of Nuremberg, greeted him 
as the Nightingale of Wittenberg, whose coming announced the 
spring. Philip of Hesse joined the Elector of Saxony in sup- 
porting him. The imperial towns declared in his favour. Pope 
Hadrian VI., wdio had been the tutor of Charles V., did his 
best to reform the church and to remedy abuses, but he died 
in the second year of his pontificate, and was succeeded by 
Clement VII., a subtle Medici, who endeavoured to stifle the 
Reformation by acts of diplomacy. Germany was divided into 
two camps. Campeggio, the nuncio, persuaded the dukes of 
Bavaria and Austria and the greater number of 
the south German bishops to support the pope, The German 
while John of Saxony and Philip of Hesse, to- 
gether with a number of other princes and towns, took the 
other side. In the Diet of Spires, held in 1526, a compromise was 
agreed upon, by which the creed was to follow the territory, on 
the principle of " cujus regio, ejus relir/io." A rising of the 
peasants now took place in Germany, known as the Peasants' 
War, accompanied by great distress and destruction, and was 
put down with difficulty. 

Meanwhile Charles had other affairs to attend to. By the 
battle of Marignano, in 1515, Francis I. had acquired possession 
of Milan, Genoa, and a great part of Lombardy, 
which Charles determined to recover for the Battles of 
imperial crown. He made an expedition into 
Italy, supported by the pope, Venice, and Henry VIII. In 
1521, Milan was conquered, and given to Francesco Sfoiza. 
Bayard, the French general, the knight without fear and with- 
out reproach, fell in battle. Charles's world-famous general 
was the Constable Bourbon, a Frenchman who had renounced 
his allegiance to the French king, against whom he swore 
revenge. He was at the head of Germans, Spaniards, and 
Italians, whom he had welded into a formidable force. The 
battle of Pavia took place on February 24, 1525, 
in which Francis I. was defeated, and carried off 
to Madrid as prisoner. By the peace of Madrid, signed in the 
following year, Francis gave up his claim to Milan. 

But no sooner had he returned to his own country than he 
was relieved from his oath by the pope, and formed, with Henry 
VIII. and some Italian princes, a Holy League, against "Spain. 
This led to a new attack upon Italy, led by the Constable 
Bourbon and Frundsberg. Rome was stormed on May 6, 1527, 



520 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. loio to 

and Bourbon fell in the moment of victory. The triumphant 
army, without its leader, committed every kind of excess, burn- 
ing palaces and churches, while the pope shivered, 
5 ac ot with fever, a prisoner in the Vatican. Francis sent 

an army into northern Italy, under Lautrec, who 
penetrated as far as Naples. But Andrew Doria, with his 
Genoese galleys, went over to the emperor ; Lautrec died ; 
his army was decimated by the plague; and, at last, in 1529, 

the peace of Cambrai was signed, by which Francis 
l*eace o surrendered his claims to Milan, and paid Charles 

a ransom of two million crowns for his sons, who 
had been kept as hostages in Madrid, but remained in possession 
of Burgundy. Pope Clement VII., disturbed by the spread of 
Lutheranism in Germany, and enraged with Florence because 
it had expelled the Medici, made peace with the emperor for 
the suppression of heresy. On December 20, 1530, Charles 
received both the Lombard and the imperial crowns at the 
hands of Clement in Bologna, after which he laid siege to 
Florence, deprived it of its republican constitution, and placed 
it under the domain of a Medici duke. 

A Diet was held at Spires in 1529, which altered the position 
of the emperor towards the Lutherans. Against this, a protest 

was sisrned, which gave the reformers the name 
te t t "" °* Protestants. To support this at the Diet of 

Augsburg in June 1530, a document, drawn up 
by Melanchthon and approved by Luther, was accepted which 
defined the position of the reformers in matters of belief and 
received the name of the Augsburg Confession. The Diet having 
decided against the reformers, they made a defensive league at 
Schmalkalden in Thuringia, which led to the peace of Nuremberg 

in 1532, putting an end to religious conflicts for a 
eace o time. John Frederick, elector of Saxony, became, 

in 1532, leader of the Protestant cause in place of 
his father John, a position which he held till his death in 1554. 
It was not possible that Charles should attain such an emin- 
ence of distinction without having to fight for it. Francis I. 
married his son Henry to Catherine of Medici, the pope's niece, 
in order to attack Charles in Italy, but, in the same year, 1535, 

Charles increased his reputation by the capture 
ar es at f Tunis and the destruction of the pirate, 

Hairaddin Barbarossa, who made the seas un- 
safe. Twenty thousand Christians were liberated from his prisons. 
The death of Francesco Sforza induced Francis to renew his 



a.d. 1556] CHARLES V. AND REFORMATION 521 

claims upon Milan, and as a preliminary he overran Savoy and 
Piedmont. Charles hastened to Provence, where he was opposed 
by the Constable Montmorenci, who flooded the low 
country, and by the obstinacy of Marseilles. How- „ . ™ 
ever, by the exertions of Pope Paul III., a truce 
was concluded for ten years in 1538, which enabled Charles, in 
the following year, to pass through Paris to put down a rising 
in Ghent. In 1541, Charles, in his enthusiasm for civilisation, 
undertook an expedition against the Saracens of Algiers, which 
ended in complete disaster. This gave Francis 
an opportunity of renewing his attacks, and led ,. ar es a 
to a fourth war against Charles, who was now 
allied with England, which began in 1543 and was ended by 
the peace of Crespy in 1544. Francis died on March 31, 1547. 
He was one of the most brilliant of the kings of Fo^k 
France, which has been generally unfortunate in French War 
its sovereigns. He was a fine handsome man, — Death of 
full of the splendour and the enjoyment of life, Francis *■ 
fond of dress and of every kind of pleasure. He helped litera- 
ture by founding the College de France and art by protecting 
Leonardo da Vinci and Benvenuto Cellini, but he set no 
bounds to his passions. He represented, only too faithfully, 
the strength and weakness of the French character, and this 
has made him one of the heroes of his country. 

In the meantime the Reformation in Germany was pursuing 
a victorious course. Luther, worn out with the struggle of a 
tempestuous life, died at his birthplace, Eisleben, 
on February 18, 1546, and was buried at Witten- LutheV* 
berg. A few months before, on December 13, 
1545, Pope Paul III. had summoned a general council at Trent, 
which has remained as a landmark in the history of Christen- 
dom. The result was to confirm and harden the resistance of 
Catholic doctrine, and to destroy all hopes of accommodation and 
peace. Charles nerved himself for the struggle, and prepared 
for war. He obtained the assistance of the duke £ n( j f y^ 
of Bavaria, who induced Maurice of Saxony to Religious 
join the Catholics. He had succeeded his father Peace. 
Henry in 1541, as head of the Albertine line, and through 
hatred of his cousin, John Frederick, the supporter of Luther, 
had deserted the league of Schmalkalden, although Philip of 
Hesse was his father-in-law. At the Diet of Regensburg, held 
on March 28, 1546, which was attended almost exclusively by 
Catholics, he did homage to Charles, and received the decrees of 



522 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1519 to 

Trent, under the condition that in his protected dominions the 
doctrine of justification by faith, the reception of the cup by 
the laity, and the marriage of the clergy should not be interfered 
with. The war of Schmalkalden now broke out, the leader of the 
Protestants being Schartlin of Burtenbach, and fighting taking 
place on the Danube and the Elbe, the details of which need 

not concern us. The Catholics won a great victory 
M?hlbe°rg. at Muhlberg on April 21, 1547, in which John 

Frederick was taken prisoner. He was con- 
demned to death, but the penalty was commuted to imprison- 
ment for life, and by the capitulation of Wittenberg on May 
10, 1547, his dominions and his electorate were transferred to 
Maurice, so that the supremacy in Saxony was transferred from 
the Ernestine to the Albertine line, the last remaining Catholics 
in a Protestant country. On June 19, 1547, the Protestant 
leader, Philip of Hesse, together with Moritz and Joachim of 
Brandenburg, was invited to dinner by the Duke of Alba and 
treacherously captured. Thus Charles conquered, and his 
brother Ferdinand set himself to reduce Bohemia. Prague 
was occupied, Bohemia lost her liberties, and the Estates were 
deprived of their power of electing their kings. 

The council which had met at Trent on December 13, 1545, 
continued to hold its sittings. Although intended for Germans, 

it consisted almost entirely of Italians and 
f m ^ ouncl1 Spaniards, which gave it a character hostile to 

Protestantism. It declared the Vulgate to be the 
only authorised translation of the Bible, and gave tradition 
an authority equal to holy writ. It maintained justification 
by works, the authority of the priesthood, and the seven 
sacraments. Charles was disappointed, as he wished for peace 
between the two confessions, and desired the decisions to be 

kept secret. But Paul III., who was afraid that 
Action of Charles would diminish the power of the papacy, 

not only published the decrees, but, under the 
pretext of a pestilence, removed the council into his own 
dominions at Bologna, broke his alliance with the emperor, 
and joined France. A minority of prelates remained in Trent, 
faithful to the emperor, so that the council was split into two 
divisions. Just at this time Charles had established his 
authority in Germany, which was a serious blow to the pope. 
A brilliant Diet was held at Augsburg on February 24, 1548, 
where the emperor induced the Protestant princes to accept 
the decisions of the council of Trent, provided that the dis- 



a.d. 1556] CHARLES V. AND REFORMATION 523 

cussions were renewed in that place. The pope could not 
accept this, but in May 1548 a truce was made, which bore 
the name of the Augsburg Interim, drawn up by T^e 
Pflug acting for the Catholics, and Agricola for the Augsburg 
Protestants, a compromise between the two con- Interim, 
fessions on the principle of Home Rule. When Charles 
attempted to enforce this, a number of dissenting clergy took 
refuge in Magdeburg, which was under a papal ban, and an 
attempt of Melanchthon to establish another compromise under 
the name of the Leipzig Interim was no more successful. 

On September 1, 1551, Pope Julius III., who was devoted to 
the emperor, brought back the council again to Trent, and there 
seemed some chance of its decrees being accepted, Julius III. 
not only by the Catholic electors, but by Protestant and the Trent 
states such as Saxony and Wiirtemberg, in which Council, 
case the emperor would have become the secular head of a united 
Christian church, and this distinction would have remained in 
his family. But these plans were rendered vain by the conduct 
of Maurice of Saxony. The aggrandisement of the empire 
threatened the power of the princes with destruction ; south 
Germany was oppressed by the presence of Spanish and Italian 
troops, and there seemed a danger of Germany being converted 
into a Spanish province. Matters were brought to a head by 
the execution of the imperial ban against Magde- 
burg by Maurice of Saxony in October 1550. f^° e ° f 
Maurice met with universal opposition. He be- 
came convinced that his position was untenable, and he deter- 
mined to change his policy. But he acted with a diplomatic 
cunning which is scarcely distinguishable from duplicity. Still 
continuing the siege of Magdeburg, he made alliances with the 
friends of the Protestants. He even made a treaty with Henry 
II. of France. He then offered Magdeburg freedom of religion 
on the condition that it should recognise his suzerainty. He 
contrived a conspiracy against Charles, who was at Innsbruck, 
busied with the affairs of the council, attacking him from every 
side. Augsburg was occupied in April 1552, her religious 
freedom was restored to her, and the garrison of the emperor 
expelled. Metz was attacked by a French army, which pene- 
trated to Lorraine, Alsace, and the upper Rhine ; Maurice him- 
self stormed the defiles of Ehrenberg and approached Innsbruck, 
so that Charles, to escape capture, fled over the mountains and 
took refuge at Villach in Carinthia. It was now the duty of 
Ferdinand to make peace, and, on August 22, 1552, the treaty 



524 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1519 to 

of Passau was concluded. It established complete religious 
freedom on the basis of the Augsburg Confession, abrogated 

the Interim, arranged that the council of Trent 
rea y ot should have no authority over Protestants, and set 

the landgrave of Hesse at liberty. This was a 
great victory for the Protestants, to whom a second amnesty was 
conceded, all who had been imprisoned for their religious beliefs 
being set at liberty. John Frederick of Saxony died two years 
later, in March 1554, and Maurice died in the previous July of 
a wound which he had received in the battle of Sievershausen. 
He died the hero of the Protestants. He was succeeded in the 
electorate of Saxony by his brother Augustus (1553-1586), 
whose more famous grandson, John George (1611-1656), bore 
so prominent a part in the Thirty Years' War. 

The recognition of religious freedom entirely shattered the 
plans of Charles V., with regard to both the empire and the 

church, and he was induced to leave the affairs 
rea y ot j Q erman y m0 re and more in the hands of his 

■A.U.2TS Durst- 

brother Ferdinand. A final arrangement was 
made by the peace of Augsburg, signed on September 26, 1555, 
by which the Protestant states who accepted the Augsburg 
Confession were granted not only entire freedom of conscience 
and religion, but also complete political equality with the Catho- 
lics. The subjects who did not agree with the religion of their 
prince were allowed to remove to another province, and were 
granted toleration if they remained. If this liberty settled the 
question of the disestablishment of the ancient faith, the more 
difficult question of disendowment remained, and became the 
cause of bloody conflicts, so that the peace of Augsburg was not 
a final solution of difficulties, but a temporary compromise. 
Still, the principle of the religion following the territory (cujus 
regio, ejus religio) established that authority of the German 
princes on which the constitution of Germany was afterwards 
based, the power of the emperor being correspondingly weakened. 
The emperor, who saw his great object, the unity of the western 
church, now entirely destroyed, lost his interest in the affairs of 
the world, and, his constitution being ruined by gout, determined 
Abdication t° withdraw to the seclusion of a monastery and 
and Death to prepare for death. In October 1555, in a 
of Charles. brilliant assembly held at Brussels, he solemnly 
invested his son, Philip, with the government of the Nether- 
lands, and in the following year with that of Spain and Naples, 
leaving Germany in the hands of his brother Ferdinand. On 








"""'■-/c? / A«^^ ^^ ^5*. / ^v " "'] ^s'eilfes 7) 



f\V> 'I 




a.d. 1556] CHARLES V. AND REFORMATION 525 

September 7, 1556, he Laid down the imperial crown, and retired 
to the monastery of San Juste, in the neighbourhood of Placencia, 
where he lived for two years in complete retirement, still, how- 
ever, taking an interest in public affairs. He died in 1558, 
having solemnly rehearsed his own funeral. Ferdinand I. suc- 
ceeded him as emperor, having solemnly engaged himself to 
preserve the religious peace, and a similar policy was followed 
by his son, Maximilian II. 

We have thus far followed the fortunes of Lutheranism, but 
Calvinism now claims our attention. William Farel of Dauphine 
and his friend the eloquent Viret fought vigorously 
for the new faith. Their doctrine was received in Calvinism 
the Pays de Yaud (wrested from Savoy by Bern), 
in Neufchatel, and above all in Geneva, which also, liberated 
from the authority of its duke and its bishops, was lying as un- 
claimed property waiting for its master. The task was taken 
up by John Calvin, born at Noyon in Picardy on July 10, 1509, 
who, beginning as a jurist, turned his attention to theology, was 
persecuted as an adherent of the Reformation, was compelled to 
fly, and settled in Geneva, where he administered 
the republic, reformed morals, and founded a Geneva* 1 
church. His tyrannical government led to a 
second expulsion, but he was restored, and up to his death on 
May 27, 1564, he exercised a commanding influence in every 
department of the government, so that Geneva became for the 
south what Wittenberg was for the north. He was supported by 
able assistants. Theodore Beza (1519-1605), a gifted French 
nobleman, became head of the Geneva Seminary ; the printer 
Stephanus circulated reforming literature. Geneva became a 
frontier fortress of religious freedom, a liberty strictly restrained 
by Calvin's personal opinions. Calvin had little imagination, but 
great intelligence, and was fanatically severe in both thought 
and action. He was strict with others as with himself, and 
cared nothing for popularity. He took a central position on 
the sacramental question, but was an ardent supporter of pre- 
destination and of the narrowest view of the atonement. He 
opposed all ritual, pictures, ornaments, organs, candles, and 
crucifixes. AVorship was to consist of prayer, preaching, and 
psalmody. Goudimel was the Palestrina of this new movement. 
The Sabbath, strictly kept, was the only feast day. The govern- 
ment of the church was presbyterian, the presbyters or elders 
chose the clergy, administered strict discipline, morals, and alms- 
giving. Discipline was very severe : sinners were to be punished 



526 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1519-56 

in this world to escape worse punishment in the next. Amuse- 
ments such as the theatre and the dance were strictly forbidden. 
Calvinism was better received by the wealthier and more edu- 
cated citizens than by the common people. The doctrines of 
Calvin soon spread over French Switzerland, and found a home 

in France, especially in the south, where the 

Albigenses had left behind them an example of 
endurance. The Calvinists received here the name of Huguenots. 
Persecution and death could not extinguish them. The faith 

spread into Holland, and gave rise to the Presby- 
res y- terians in Scotland and the Puritans in England. 

It found many adherents in Germany, its chief 
supporter being Frederick III., Elector Palatine, the author of 
the Heidelberg Catechism. It also made way in Hesse, in 

Anhalt, in Bremen, and even in Brandenburg. 
Calvinism Melanchthon was kindly disposed towards it, and 

at the close of his life was the willing or un- 
willing author of sects called Philippists or Cryptocalvinists, 
which at the end of the sixteenth century were violent opponents 
of Lutheranism. 



CHAPTER II. 

ENGLAND, A.D. 1509-1558— THE COUNTER REFORMATION— THE 
REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS, A.D. 1556-1609. 

The Reformation in England is inextricably bound up with the 
mind and character of Henry VIII. , and it is impossible to 
describe the spiritual movement without recount- Henry VIII 
ing the unworthy material policy which ap- and the Re- 
parently caused it, although, in truth, the causes formation, 
of this revolution, like those of so many others, lie beyond our 
powers of investigation. Henry VIII., who ascended the throne 
in 1509, and married Catherine, the sister of Joanna, mother of 
Charles V., in the same year, was a man of affability, good looks, 
courage, and kingly presence, of great ability, skilled in French, 
Latin, and Spanish, an excellent musician, well versed in theo- 
logical controversy and a patron of the learning of the Re- 
naissance. In early life he wrote a book against Luther, in 
defence of the seven sacraments, in which he defended, amongst 
others, the sacrament of marriage, and received from the pope, 
as a reward, the title of Defender of the Faith, which is still 
held by English sovereigns, although with a different meaning. 
In 1515 he appointed to the chancellorship his chief adviser, 
Thomas Wolsey, perhaps the ablest man who ever held that office. 
Wolsey desired that England should take a predominant position 
in the rivalry between the three young potentates 
of Europe — Charles, Francis, and Henry — and in Wols ey- 
this he partially succeeded. He was an ardent patron of learn- 
ing, and wished to reform the abuses of the Church, without any 
great alteration of doctrine, or weakening the connection with 
the papacy. He was an admirable chancellor, and administered 
the office with impartiality and justice. His blind devotion to 
the king, who treated him with the most cruel ingratitude, pre- 
vented him from conciliating the support of the people, and it is 
said that he was deficient in spirituality, but he is hardly to be 
blamed for being more of a statesman than an ecclesiastic. 
England was not much affected by the earlier movements of the 



528 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1509 to 

Reformation. In 1518, Wolsey was made papal legate, and, 
on the death of Maximilian in the following year, Henry sup- 
ported the claims of Charles to the empire. The 

Charles^ ^ ear 152 ° waS memorable for tlie visit of Charles 
V. to England, and the meetings of Henry and 
Francis at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, and of Henry and 
Charles at Gravelines. In 1521, Henry joined the allies of 
Charles and the pope against Luther, and received, as we have 
before noticed, the title of Defender of the Faith. Five years 
later, when Charles married Isabella of Portugal instead of 
Mary of England, Henry joined Francis against him, but this 
did not prevent Charles from sacking Rome, making the pope 
prisoner, and becoming the master of Europe. Henry now 
began to desire a divorce from his wife Catherine, a dignified 
Henry's anc ^ estimable lady, of whom he was getting tired, 

Divorce and he used the pretext that she had been pre- 

Question. viously married to his brother Arthur, who had 
died at the age of fifteen. Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio 
were appointed by the pope to try the case, but forbidden to 
give a decision, Clement VII. reserving this to himself. There- 
upon Wolsey was dismissed from office, and Sir Thomas More 
appointed chancellor in his place. A Parliament met, which sat 
for seven years, and is known as the Reformation Parliament. 
The Re- I n 1*529 it passed an act which regulated the fees 

formation payable to the clergy, and forbade non-residence 
Parliament, and engagement of the clergy in secular business. 
In 1530, Wolsey was arrested on a charge of treason, and died 
at Leicester, and in 1531, the clergy recognised Henry as head 
of the church " as far as the law of Christ should allow." In 
1532, the first Act of Annates was passed, by which the first 
year's income of bishoprics, called annates, was taken from the 
pope and given to the king, and the clergy promised not to 
meet in convocation and not to pass new canons without the 
king's consent. On January 25, 1533, Henry married Anne 
Boleyn. Cranmer, a Catholic, but in favour of the creation 
of a national church, independent of Rome, was made arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and in that capacity pronounced a 
sentence of divorce against Catherine. The Act of Appeals 
was passed, by which appeals to Rome, both in spiritual and 
temporal matters, were made illegal. 

The year 1531, during which the badge of Henry was 
formed by the lett3rs H and A, united by a true lover's knot, 
was' memorable in the progress of the Reformation, A second 



a.d. 1558] ENGLAND 529 

Act of Annates ratified and enlarged the first, and the chinch 
was deprived of the power of electing bishops, which was 
practically given to the king, although the Complete 
form of election was still preserved. Convocation break with 
was rendered powerless : Peter's Pence and all Rome, 
payments to Rome were put an end to. The marriage with 
Anne Boleyn was pronounced lawful, and her children were 
recognised as heirs to the throne. More and Fisher, who 
supported the legality of Catherine's marriage, were thrown 
into prison, and the first Act of Supremacy was passed, which 
abolished the authority of the pope in England, and gave 
Henry the title of Supreme Head of the Church in England. 
In 1535, Thomas Cromwell, the " Malleus Mona- 
chorum," the Hammer of the Monks, was made _ omas 
vicar-general. He had been secretary to 
Wolsey, and rose in favour at court by his master's fall. 
Able and unscrupulous, he did his best to make the king 
absolute both in church and state. He began an inquiry 
into the condition of the monasteries, which were the principal 
supporters of papal authority in the country. More and Fisher 
were executed for refusing to admit the king's supremacy, 
upon which Pope Paul III. prepared a bull of excommuni- 
cation against Henry, which was issued in 1538. In 1536, 
the Reformation Parliament came to an end, after completing 
its work by the dissolution of the smaller monasteries. 

Henry was now supreme in church and state, and we shall 
see how he used his power. His first acts were to divorce 
Anne Boleyn, who was executed, and marry Jane 
Seymour, and to summon a new Parliament in *> e y 
which gave him the power of naming his suc- 
cessor. Ten articles were passed by Parliament and Convo- 
cation defining religious dogma. Coverdale's translation of the 
Bible was authorised, and was ordered to be placed in all 
churches. These revolutionary changes were not submitted 
to without resistance, and a rising called the The 
Pilgrimage of Grace took place in the north Pilgrimage 
of England, partly in defence of the ancient faith. of Grace. 
It was suppressed in 1537, and resulted in the establishment 
of the Council of the North, a court for the maintenance 
of order, which lasted till 1641, and in the dissolution of 
the larger monasteries. In this same year also Queen Jane 
Seymour died a natural death, after giving birth to a son, who 
afterwards became Edward VI. In 1539, the suppression of 



530 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1509 to 

the larger monasteries was completed, the king's proclamations 
were given, under certain restrictions, the force of law, and six 
articles were passed, — known as the Bloody Articles, — harshly 
enforcing the doctrine of transubstantiation, the refusal of the 
cup to the laity, the celibacy of the clergy, vows of perpetual 
chastity, private masses, and auricular confession. 

In 1540, Henry married Anne of Cleves, but, as he did not 
like her, she was divorced, and he next married Catherine 

Howard, niece of the Duke of Norfolk and cousin 
Fall of £ Q Anne Boleyn. Thomas Cromwell was driven 

from power and executed, Henry delighting in 
getting rid of his instruments as soon as he had no further use 
for them. A more conservative party, led by Gardiner and 
Norfolk, administered the kingdom. In 1541, Henry became 
king of Ireland and head of the Irish church, but Ireland 
continued to be Roman Catholic, although the state church 
was Protestant. In 1542, Catherine Howard was executed, and 
in the following year the king married his last wife, Catherine 

Parr, who survived him. A Succession Act was 

The Act of p asS ed in 1544, which left the crown, first, to 
Succession. ^, , , , , . , , . , , .- n \ 

Edward and his heirs, then to Mary and her 

heirs, and then to Elizabeth and her heirs, but, by his will, 
if these heirs should fail, as they eventually did, Henry left his 
crown to the descendants of his younger sister, Mary, duchess 
of Suffolk. Henry died in 1547, his last act being to order the 
execution of the duke of Norfolk and his chivalrous son the earl 
of Surrey, though Norfolk was saved by Henry's death. 

Edward VI., the son of Jane Seymour, was nine years old 
at the death of his father. He received a strange education, 
being full of an erudition which was too oppressive 
war ' both for his mind and body, and inspired by an 
intolerant hatred of the old learning. It is idle to speculate 
as to what kind of a king he might have become. He was 
extremely conscientious and very devout, but he might have 
developed a tyrannous disposition like that of his father. The 
government was conducted by his uncle, the duke of Somerset, 
under the title of Protector, who did his best 
Somerset to p er f orm his duties. He favoured the Reforma- 
tion, was desirous of a union between England 
and Scotland, and was devoted to the interests of the poor, who 
reverenced his memory. But he was not a born statesman, and 
he followed the example of Henry VIII. in enriching himself 
out of the spoils of the old church. His first acts were to 



a.d. 1558] ENGLAND 531 

defeat the Scots at the battle of Pinkie, to repeal the six 
articles of 1539, to send commissioners round the country to 
remove pictures and images from the churches, and, while 
severely punishing vagrants, to inquire into the best means of 
relieving the poor. In 1549, the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. 
was published, and an Act of Uniformity passed 
by which all were compelled to use it. This TJniform'tv 
produced a rising in Cornwall, while a rebellion 
under Ket took place in Norfolk, to protest against the en- 
closure of common lands. Both were suppressed, and measures 
were taken for preventing trouble in future by increasing the 
powers of the lords-lieutenant in the counties and by re- 
modelling the militia. But the disturbances produced the fall 
of Somerset, who was sent to the Tower, his brother, Lord 
Seymour, having been previously executed for high treason. 

Somerset was succeeded in the protectorship by the earl of 
Warwick, who was made duke of Northumberland. He made 
peace with Scotland and France, restoring Bou- Northum- 
logne to the latter, and, two years later, sent berland 
Somerset to the scaffold. Northumberland's re- Protector, 
ligious convictions were weaker than his desire for his own 
aggrandisement. In 1552 was published the second Prayer 
Book of Edward VI., which was much more Protestant than the 
first, and a second Act of Uniformity was passed. At the same 
time, the personal zeal of Edward VI. for education was shown 
by the founding of more than fifty grammar schools out of the 
wealth of the monasteries and the chantries. Meanwhile econo- 
mical changes, due partly to the destruction of the 
monasteries, were producing great unrest. Sheep fjconomic 
farming became so profitable ■ that large tracts 
of corn land were turned into pasture, which deprived man} 7 
labourers of work and multiplied vagrants, who had to be 
suppressed. Also the new landlords had a desire to enclose 
lands which would have remained common under the monasteries. 
At the same time the opening up of new mines in America 
depreciated the value of gold, and the Tudor sovereigns were not 
ashamed of increasing the revenues by depreciating the coinage, 
a process the economical danger of which was not at that time 
fully understood. All this made the reign of Edward less 
successful than it otherwise would have been, but it will always 
remain remarkable as a period of stimulus to education. 

Although the country was devoted to the old religion and 
cared little for the Reformation, the government was unwilling 



532 A GENERAL HISTORY La.d. 1509-1558 

to see a Catholic sovereign on the throne, and in his last days 

Edward was induced to leave the crown to his gifted and pious 

cousin, Lady Jane Grey, who, alone among the 

Lady Jane sovereigns of England, deserves the name of Saint. 
Grey. 

She was the daughter of Henry Grey, marquis 

of Dorset, who had married Frances, daughter of Mary, sister of 
Henry VIII., who, after marrying Louis XII., king of France, 
had made a second union with Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk. 
Lady Jane had married Dudley, the son of Northumberland, 
and by his influence she was proclaimed queen on Edward's 
death.' The rightful heir was Mary, daughter of Catherine of 
Aragon, who was naturally a Catholic, and was proclaimed 
A ' n queen on July 19, nine days after her cousin. 
an( j On the following day, Lady Jane Grey was 

Marriage of arrested, together with her husband and his 
Mary, father Northumberland, who was beheaded. The 

Catholic bishops were reinstated, and the church legislation 
of Edward VI. was repealed. In the following year Mary was 
betrothed to Philip II. of Spain, son of Charles V. Discontent 
against this Spanish marriage caused a rebellion of Sir Thomas 
Wyatt in Kent, and of the duke of Suffolk in the Midlands, 
which led to the execution of Lady Jane Grey, her husband, 
her father, and others, and the imprisonment of Princess Eliza- 
beth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, in the Tower. No fairer 
or purer head than Lady Jane's ever fell upon the scaffold. 
Mary, having now rid herself of her chief opponents, duly 
married Philip. 

Mary was, perhaps, not so bad as she is generally represented. 
It must be remembered that her mother was cruelly persecuted, 
and that she had five stepmothers. She was a 
Catholic strong Papist, and surpassed in bigotry even 

her husband, who compelled her to make an 
alliance with Spain against France, but probably deprecated 
her harshest measures against the Protestants, though in Spain 
he freely used burning as an instrument of conversion. Mary 
was devoted to her husband, but he had no love for her whatever. 
Immediately after her marriage, he left England for two years. 
The principal advisers of Mary were Renard, the Spanish 
ambassador ; Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, who had been 
neglected under Edward VI. ; and Cardinal Pole, a scion of the 
house of York, who had come to England as papal legate, and 
after Gardiner died became Mary's chief counsellor, and, in 
1556, was made archbishop of Canterbury. The Marian perse- 



ad. 1540-1609] COUNTER REFORMATION 533 

cutions of Protestants began in 1555, and produced two hundred 
and seventy-seven victims, the principal of whom were Rogers, 
Hooper, Latimer, Ridley, and Oranmer. A large proportion of 
them came from the diocese of Bonner, bishop of London. 
The reign of Mary was short and miserable : she was always 
hoping for a child which never came, and she yearned for the 
love of her husband, who had none to give her. He had 
married her as prince, but in 1556, by the resignation of his 
father, he became ruler of Spain, the Sicilies, the Netherlands, 
and the Indies, — the most powerful sovereign in the world. 
In 1557, he compelled her to make war with France, which 
resulted in the loss of Calais, a calamity which contributed to 
her death. She said that Calais would be found imprinted on 
her heart. The next year both she and Cardinal Pole died. 
Meanwhile the Reformation had spread to Scot- rp^e 
land, where religion and politics became inextri- Struggle in 
cably interwoven. James V. had died at war Scotland, 
with England in 1542, leaving only an infant daughter, the 
famous Mary Queen of Scots. The union of England and 
Scotland by her marriage with Edward VI. was the aim first 
of Henry VIII. and then of Somerset; but the battle of Pinkie 
and Mary's retreat to Fiance put an end to the pioject, and 
strengthened the old Franco-Scottish alliance. In 1554 her 
mother, Mary of Guise, became regent of Scotland, but here 
the Protestant nobles, styling themselves " Lords of the Con- 
gregation," and supported by many of the people, opposed her 
as a French woman and a Catholic, In 1558 the Queen of 
Scots married the Dauphin, but the same year the accession of 
Elizabeth enabled the Scottish Protestants to seek in England 
a natural ally against Popery and French domination. 



THE COUNTER REFORMATION 

The advancing tide of Protestantism was met by vigorous 
efforts on the other side, which are comprised in the general 
name of the Counter Reformation. The first of 
these was the creation of the order of the Jesuits, +h J Jesuits 
founded by Ignatius Loyola, born at a village of 
that name in the Basque country. The order was recognised 
by Pope Paul III. in 1540. Ignatius died in 1556, but before 
this the order had been wisely organised by his helper and 
successor, Lainez, who died in 1564. The leading principle was 



534 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1540 to 

absolute submission to tbe authority of the General of the order, 
who obtained the popular name of the Black Pope. In this 
obedience, each member was to be " tanquam cadaver" like a 
corpse, as if he had no life or spirit of his own. One important 
work of the Jesuits was in education, on which they had a 
powerful effect, being perhaps the foremost educating body in 
the world : their educational system, organised by Aquaviva in 
1594, had great influence in determining the curriculum of 
our English public schools. They also defended the church by 
maintaining intercourse with the highest classes in every country, 
their members being trained in courtly manners and address, 
and being drawn from good families. Further, they not only 
preached the gospel at home but also sent missions abroad — to 
India, China, and Japan (mainly by the efforts of St. Francis 
Xavier), to Africa, and to South America, where Paraguay be- 
longed to the Jesuits entirely ; and they had great authority 
in Brazil and the Spanish colonies. For the purpose of these 
missions, the great college of the Propaganda was founded 
in Rome. 

A second weapon of the Counter Reformation was the Council 

of Trent, which still continued its sittings. Begun for the 

purpose of reuniting the divisions of the church, 

The Council itg firgt twQ sittings? f rom 1545 to 1548) anc l f rom 

1551 to 1552, were ineffectual for this purpose. 
A third period began under Pope Pius IV. in January 1562, in 
which all idea of reconciling the church with Protestantism was 
given up, and the organisation of a new and stricter form of 
Catholicism was alone considered. Twenty-five sessions were 
New held, and their decisions were confirmed by the 

Catholic pope in 1563, and were generally accepted by the 

Orders. Catholic world, with the exception of France. 

New orders were founded in the church in accordance with the 
new spirit which animated it— the Theatines by the powerful 
Caraffa, afterwards Pope Paul IV. ; the Oratorians, a more 
democratic branch of the Franciscans, especially devoted to the 
work of foreign missions, by Philip Neri ; the Brothers ancl 
Sisters of Mercy, blessed in every hospital and on every battle- 
field, by John of God and Vincent de Paul ; the Ursulines, devoted 
to female education ; and the Lazarists. These activities were 
greatly assisted by the saintly Charles Borromeo, archbishop 
of Milan, who died in 1587, and Francis de Sales, bishop of 
Geneva, who died in 1622. 



a.d. 1609] REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS 535 



THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS. 

Philip II., who succeeded Charles V. in 1556 and reigned till 
1598 — an almost exact contemporary of our English Elizabeth, 
who came to the throne two years and died five •«.«. 
years later — was a sombre, cold, and suspicious 
nature, a great contrast to his illustrious father. His chief 
objects were the increase of his power, the extinction of Pro- 
testantism, and the destruction of democracy. For these objects 
he sacrificed everything — the happiness and prosperity of his 
dominions, the love of his people, and the sanctity of family ties. 
The war with France which he found proceeding at his accession 
was put an end to by the peace of Cateau Cambresis in 1559. 
But almost immediately after this broke out the Revolt of the 
Netherlands, a notable factor in the history of ^he Inquisi- 
modern Europe. The Netherlands were governed tion in the 
at this time by Margaret of Parma, half-sister of Netherlands. 
Philip, a woman of masculine intelligence and character. She 
suffered from the fact that Cardinal Granvella, son of the famous 
chancellor of Charles V., a narrow, crafty nature, was at the 
head of the council of state, and that the country was occupied 
by a Spanish garrison. In older to strengthen the Catholic 
faith and to extirpate heresy, fourteen new bishoprics were 
founded and placed under Granvella as archbishop of Marines, 
whereas four had hitherto been considered sufficient. The 
Inquisition was introduced from Spain, inquisitors were ap- 
pointed for each bishopric, and Granvella was made chief 
inquisitor. Petitions for the removal of the hated ecclesiastic 
were presented to Philip, but received little attention, until 
they were powerfully supported by William of Orange, the Stat- 
holder of Holland, by Lamoral, count Egmont, Statholder of 
Flanders, and by Count Hoorn, who had withdrawn himself 
from the sittings of the council of state. In 1564, the decisions 
of the Council of Trent were introduced into the country, and 
attempts were made to reduce all the provinces to a uniformity 
of religion, both the Protestant north and the Catholic south, 
Philip saying that he would rather die a thousand deaths, 
and lose every inch of his territory, than allow the slightest 
alteration in religion. Imprisonments and executions of 
heretics followed in such numbers that William of Orange, 
although he had been born a Catholic, now admitted himself 
a Protestant. 



536 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1556 to 

The new belief was supported mainly by the middle classes : 

the nobles remained in the old faith, but they were strongly 

opposed to the proceedings of the Inquisition. In 

, ;f f ,, November 1565, four hundred nobles signed a 
petition against it which went by the name of 
the Compromise. When they presented their petition to Mar- 
garet on April 5, 1566, she was astonished at the number of 
distinguished persons who supported it. Some one said that she 
had no reason to be afraid of " these beggars " {r/ueitx). The 
name was taken up, the petitioners called themselves Gueux, 
and hung around their necks a medal with a portrait of Philip 
and a motto, " Faithful to the king, even to the beggar's wallet." 
The petition had no effect, and the persecution continued. But 
evangelical doctrines spread, hymns were sung, sermons were 
preached in the open air, monks and images were derided. A 
storm was evidently brewing, which broke out on 

be he ii? VOlt Au §' ust 14 ' 1566 > in St 0mer ' Ypres, Antwerp, 
and Brussels. In three days four hundred churches 
and chapels were destroyed, and the streets covered with brok.n 
pictures and images and articles of church furniture, costly 
works of art not being spared. This violence estranged the 
more educated amongst the reformers, and Margaret used her 
statesmanship to utilise this discord, while the Spanish troops 
reduced Valenciennes and Antwerp to order. 

But the court of Madrid was opposed to Margaret's moderation. 

The Duke of Alba, the despotic servant of a tyrannical nation, 

was sent to the Netherlands, with a picked army 

ofAlb 1 ? 6 of Italians and Spaniards in August 1567. The 
inhabitants fled in terror, more than a hundred 
thousand tradesmen and artisans taking refuge in England and 
other homes of freedom. William of Orange, justly called 
William the Silent, returned to Germany, the country of his 
birth, to await events. He took leave of his friend Egmont 
at a village called Wilbroek, between Antwerp and Brussels, 
warning him in vain against Spanish treachery. The darling 
of the people, with his bosom friend Hoorn, was captured, and 
they were executed in the market-place at Brussels on June 5, 
1568. Margaret, in despair, resigned her position and returned 
to Italy. Alba set himself to cany out Ins bloody work ; the 
scaffold and the rack claimed their victims. The citizens of 
Antwerp were compelled to build a citadel for their own sub- 
jection. The son of William of Orange was carried off from 
Liege to Madrid, and brought up in detestation of his father. 



ad. 1609] REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS 537 

Alba also made alterations in the taxes, which were beneficial 
to trade, but were unauthorised by local law and were hated by 
the people. The Estates protested : the Brusselers shut their 
shops, but were hanged for their pains. The exiles called them- 
selves Sea Beggars, and occupied the port of Brill and other 
places in Holland and Zealand. In 1572 William Return of 
of Orange returned, and attempted to unite the William the 
northern provinces. He was elected statholder Silent, 
of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and Friesland. The opposition 
to Alba took a more serious complexion. Alba replied by 
murdering the rebels without distinction of sex, and plundering 
their houses. His soldiers, having satisfied their cruelty and lust, 
burned down the houses and the churches until even the court 
of Madrid became weary of their excesses, and, in December 1573, 
Alba was recalled. His successor, Louis of Requesens and 
Zuniga, adopted milder methods, but he did not remove the 
taxes and could not restrain the troops, nor could the well- 
intentioned emperor, Maximilian II., bring about peace. In 
the battle of Mookerheide, near Nymwegen (1574), two brothers 
of the prince of Orange fell, but Leyden still continued to be a 
centre of resistance. The town was besieged, and suffered the 
extremity of famine, but the citizens cut their dams and the 
Spaniards fled lest they should be drowned like Pharaoh in the 
sea. When the town was at last relieved, a Protestant uni- 
versity was founded. Orange's offer of the sovereignty of 
Holland and Zealand to Elizabeth was refused, but on the death 
of Requesens in 1576 those provinces conferred it on Orange 
himself, and " the Spanish Fury " — the sack of Antwerp by 
Spanish soldiers — enabled him to unite all the Netherlands in 
the Pacification of Ghent. Requesens' successor, Don John of 
Austria, had to accept the Pacification and dismiss the Spanish 
troops. But he soon turned round, and — while Orange was 
hampered by the arrival of Archduke Matthias as sovereign of 
the Netherlands on the invitation of the Catholic party — Don 
John obtained the aid of an army under his nephew Alex- 
ander Farnese, duke of Parma, which defeated the rebels of 
Gemblours. Orange induced the duke of Anjou to become 
" Defender: of the Liberties of the Netherlands," and allied 
also with Elizabeth and with the German Calvinists, and he 
gained some successes. But Don John, dying in 1578, was 
succeeded by Parma, and his politic diplomacy, playing on 
religious sentiment, gradually won back the Catholic south to 
its old allegiance to Spain. 



538 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1550-1609 

Orange, to oppose him, formed in 1579 the Union of Utrecht, 

which joined Holland, Zealand, Guelders, Utrecht, Ober-Yssel, 

Friesland, and Groningen in a confederacy founded 

of Utrecht on a ksolute freedom of religion. In 1580, Anjou 

accepted the sovereignty, but alienated his subjects 

in 1583 by " the French Fury " in Antwerp, and died next year. 

A far worse blow to freedom was the murder of William the 

Murder of Silent by the fanatic Gerard on July 16, 1584, at 

William the Delft. His second son, Maurice of Nassau, was 

Silent. elected his successor, and the Estates were con- 

trolled by the strong hand of Olden Barneveld. But Parma 
succeeded in occupying Ghent, Brussels, Malines, Nymwegen 
and, at last, Antwerp. The United Provinces turned for help, 
first to Henry III. of France, who declined for religious reasons, 
and then to Elizabeth of England, who sent the earl of Leicester 
to their assistance in 1585. He received the name of General 
Statholder, but he only held the office two years, during which 
Sir Philip Sidney, Leicester's nephew, the most gifted English- 
man of his day, fell at the battle of Zutphen. 

Philip now prepared a final attack on England in the shape 
of the Invincible Armada, consisting of 136 ships, provided at 
the cost of about ten millions of money. The 
e bpanis destruction of the fleet commanded by the Duke 
of Medina Sidonia and supported by Parma 
belongs to the history of England. Parma died in 1592, broken- 
hearted at the failure of his plans. Just before his death, 
Philip had determined to make over the Netherlands and 
Franche Oomte to his daughter Isabella, who had married 
Albert of Austria, with the provision that if they had no 
children the provinces should revert to Spain. The southern 
provinces, the modern Belgium, accepted the arrangement : 
but Holland, backed by the northern provinces, whose inde- 
pendence had been recognised by several courts, continued its 
struggle for religious freedom. The Spanish General Spinola 
made head against Maurice, and took Ostend after a three years' 
siege, but the United Provinces held the sea and 

The United j -^ ^ ie f oun( J a tions of an extensive commerce. 

rfOVlllCGS 

A twelve years' truce was made by the contend- 
ing powers, by the mediation of Henry IV. of France in 1609, 
but the independence of the United Provinces was not fully 
recognised by Europe till the peace of Westphalia in 1648. 



CHAPTER III. 

FRANCE, A.D. 1560-1610— THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH, 
A.D. 1558-1603. 

In the year 1560, Henry II., the chivalrous king of France, 

a worthy son of Francis I., died of a wound received in a 

tournament, and was succeeded by Francis II., who 

had married the lovely queen of Scotland, Mary H ^ a ° 

Stuart, whose mother, belonging to the house 

of Guise- Lorraine, was daughter of Rene II., duke of Lorraine. 

The Guises were a very powerful and pushing family, who soon 

obtained great influence at the French court. m , _ . 

• Th6 Guises 

Their most prominent members were Francis, 

duke of Guise and prince of Joinville, and his brother the 

cardinal of Lorraine. They were staunch adherents of the 

pope, and eagerly anticipated the succession of their niece, 

Mary, to the English crown. They exhibited their Catholic 

zeal by burning a councillor of Parliament, Dubourg, a man of 

noble character, for heresy, although the Count Palatine did 

his best to save him by summoning him to the university of 

Heidelberg. The mother of the two Guises was Antonia of 

Bourbon- Vendome, sister of Anton of Bourbon, ip^e 

who had married the heiress of Navarre and was Bourbons 

father of Henry of Bourbon and' Navarre, after- and 

wards king of France, while his brother was Chatillons. 

prince of Conde. Another powerful family, closely related to 

those already mentioned, were the Chatillons, whose most 

prominent member was Admiral Coligny. There was a strong 

rivalry between the Guises and, the Bourbons, and, as the 

Guises were keen supporters of the old faith, so their adversaries 

placed themselves at the head of the Huguenots, having the 

advantage of being born Frenchmen while the -p^g q ou . 

Lorrainers were regarded as interlopers. The spiracy of 

conspiracy of Amboise formed by a Calvinistic Amboise. 

nobleman, La Renaudie, in 1560, with the view of setting 

the king free from the influence of the Guises, and placing 

539 



540 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. isgo to 

the government in the hands of the Estates, The plot 
failed, La Renaudie was killed, and his companions fell on 
the scaffold. This only caused the increase of the power of 
the Guises, and helped to give them an opportunity for severer 
measures. A meeting of the States-General, summoned at 
Orleans for the purpose of bringing about a religious peace, 
was used by the Guises for the destruction of the Bourbons, 
who were suspected oj being concerned in the conspiracy of 
Amboise. Conde and Anton of Navarre were arrested, and 
were only rescued from a horrible death by the sudden demise 
of the king on December 5, 1560. Francis was succeeded by 
his brother, Charles IX., who was largely under the influence 
of his mother, Catherine of Medici. Anton of 
de^M 6 ^ Bourbon, who ought to have been regent, had to 
content himself with a lower position. The Guises 
lost their authority, and retired with their niece, Mary Stuart, 
to Lorraine, which she soon left for Scotland — a fatal journey. 

Three religious wars ensued, which dated from 1562 to 1570. 
Catherine, in her heart a devoted Catholic, took up a middle 
position, and agreed to a conference beinff held at 
ro y p i SS y i n 1561, in which Theodore Beza and Peter 
Martyr held an argument against the cardinal of 
Lorraine and Lainez, the head of the Jesuits. They attempted 
to get the persecuting edict unwillingly issued by the chan- 
cellor, l'Hopital, modified, and freedom of preaching, prayer, and 
worship granted to the Calvinists, on the condition that their 
doctrines were in accordance with the Bible, and with the 
council of Nicaea, and that no synods were held by them without 
the royal authority. There seemed a likelihood of Protestantism 
gaining a surer position for itself, and at the same time the 
States-General at Pontoise threatened to endow France with a 
liberal constitution. 

The Catholics became frightened. The clergy voted a large 

subsidy to the new king. The duke of Guise, the Constable 

The First Montmorency, and the Marshal St. Andre" formed 

Religious a triumvirate for the protection of the ancient 

War. faith. Anton of Navarre, a man of weak character, 

whose wife, Jeanne d'Albret of Beam, daughter of Margaret, 

sister of Francis I., had allowed Beza to introduce the reformed 

doctrines into his dominions, and had educated his son Henry 

in that faith, was now persuaded, with the help of the Spanish 

court, to join the Catholics, and the massacre of the Calvinists at 

Yassy, in March 1562, gave the signal for the First Religious 



a.t>. 1610] FRANCE 54i 

War. France was divided into two hostile camps. On May 16, 
1562, four thousand Huguenots were treacherously murdered at 
Toulouse. Where the Calvinists conquered, they 
destroyed pictures and ornaments in the churches, Massacr*^ 
threw down crucifixes and altars, and profaned 
relics, while their opponents burned the Bibles and compelled 
the evangelicals to be rebaptized. The Catholics were sup- 
ported by Spain and the pope, the Huguenots by Elizabeth. 
Mercenary soldiers were supplied by Germany and Switzerland. 
Death was rife among the leaders of the two parties. Anton 
of Navarre died before Rouen, in the battle of Dreux. Mont- 
morency was taken prisoner by the Huguenots, Conde by the 
Catholics, and St. Andre was killed. Francis, duke of Guise, was 
murdered, and the murderer Poltrot falsely charged Coligny and 
Beza with being privy to the crime. Henry of Guise succeeded 
his brother. At last, in 1563, the peace of 
Amboise allowed the Calvinists freedom of wor- ^mboise 
ship in all towns, with the exception of Paris, 
and all feudal lords were to permit freedom of religion to 
their subjects. 

When, after the peace, the young king and his mother 
travelled through France, and saw the mischief wrought by the 
Protestants, and had met the duke of Alba at Second 
Bayonne, they became more bitter against the Religious 
new faith. The Edict of Amboise was frequently War - 
violated, and in 1567 the Protestants again took up arms in 
self-defence. Conde formed a plan of seizing the king and his 
mother, which, failing, enraged them still more, and the Cal- 
vinists were defeated in the battle of Saint Denis, in which 
Montmorency was killed. The Calvinists, however, held posses- 
sion of La Rochelle. But the cardinal of Lorraine, assisted by 
Spain and the pope, had great authority, and the chancellor, 
l'Hopital, was dismissed from his office. The conduct of the 
war was committed to Henry, duke of Anjou, the younger 
brother of the king, his mother's darling. Anjou 
attacked La Rochelle, which was defended by 
Conde, who had nearly met with the fate of Egmont, and 
was sustained by English gold. This began the third war in 
1568. The day of Jarnac, next year, was fatal to 
the Huguenots, and Conde was shot after having st Germain 
surrendered. His place was taken by Henry of 
Navarre, with Coligny as adviser at his side. The reformers 
suffered another defeat at Moncontour in October 1569, but, in 



542 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1560 to 

1570, both parties being weary of the struggle, the peace of 
St. Germain gave religions equality to the Huguenots. 

Now followed the terrible night of St. Bartholomew, August 
24, 1572. Charles IX. invited Coligny to the court, and treated 
Marriage of nrm as a trusted adviser ; he talked of making war 
Henry of against Spain in favour of the Netherlands ; he 
Navarre. urged on the marriage of his sister Margaret of 

Valois to Henry of Navarre, now the head of the Huguenots. 
How far Charles was sincere in this, we do not know, but 
Catherine and Anjou were implacable. They hated the 
admiral and dreaded a war with Spain ; they remembered the 
advice of Alba, and joined the Guises in a plan to extermi- 
nate their rivals. Jeanne dAlbret died just before her son's 
marriage, it is believed, by poison, and, on August 18, an 
attempt to murder Coligny failed, as he was only wounded in 
the arm. The excitement of the marriage feast secured a 
favourable opportunity for the execution of their plans, which, 
after the attempt on Coligny, it was impossible to conceal any 
longer. At midnight on August 24, the great bell of St. 
Germain 1 Auxerrois gave the signal for the slaughter. Coligny, 
the first victim, was murdered in his room with the greatest 
Massacre of barbarity. The revel of butchery continued for 
St. Bartho- three days ; the example of Paris was followed by 
lomew. other towns, and it is said that at least 25,000 Hu- 

guenots perished. The king is thought to have been carried away 
by the excitement, and to have shot victims from the windows of 
the Louvre. At any rate, he spared the murderers and con- 
doned what had been done. Rejoicings were rife in Spain ; a 
solemn Te Deum was sung in Rome. The Protestants fled from 
France, and sought a refuge in Switzerland, the Palatinate, and 
England. Henry of Navarre saved his life by a temporary 
abjuration. La Rochelle, Montauban, and Nfmes defended 
themselves to the death. Elizabeth refused to speak to the 
French ambassadors who appeared before her throne. Charles 
IX., tortured by an avenging conscience and by evil dreams, 
died miserably on March 13, 1574, at the age of twenty-four, 
Accession of anc ^ was succeeded by his brother Anjou, under 
Henry of the title of Henry III., who had, a year before, 

Anjou. been elected king of Poland. He reigned for 

fifteen years, and showed himself a weak, vain, and self-in- 
dulgent sovereign, living with unworthy friends, neglecting 
public affairs, and, at the end of his life, seeking absolution for 
his sins by exaggerated repentance. The spirit of the Huguenots 



a.d. 1610] FRANCE 543 

still survived. Supported by the new party of the Politicals, and 
with the sword in their hand, they had defied all attempts at recon- 
ciliation and rendered the crime of St. Bartholomew useless. 

To remedy the weakness of Henry III., a Holy League was 
formed in 1576, with Henry duke of Guise and Philip II. at 
its head, to defend their threatened religion. 
Henry III. met the danger half way by calling . e ^ 
himself the head of the league, which for a time 
interfered with its operations, and a peace was made at Poitiers 
in 1577, which allowed religious worship to the Huguenots and 
admitted them to all public offices. After a few years of 
uncertain peace, by the death of Henry III.'s only remaining 
brother, Henry of Navarre, a determined Protestant, became 
heir to the throne. This called the league again into life, as 
its supporters could not endure the prospect of a Protestant 
king of France. Henry of Navarre was placed under the 
papal ban by Pope Sixtus V., and declared unworthy of suc- 
cession to the throne. Henry III. was forced to recall all the 
concessions he had made to Huguenots and to support the 
operations of the league. The War of the Three ^- ar f ^e 
Henries ensued, in which the league asserted Three 
its superiority. Henry of Guise hoped to obtain Henries, 
the throne for himself, declaring that he had the best right 
to it as a descendant of Charles the Great. In Paris, a league 
of sixteen was formed, consisting of an inner circle of the most 
fanatical members of the League, and it was determined to 
drive Henry III. from the throne and to put him to death. 
Henry, warned in time, defended himself by Swiss mercenaries. 
Guise went to Paris, where he found himself surrounded in 
a short time by 30,000 adherents. He had an interview with 
the king which produced no effect. It was reported that the 
heads of the League were going to be murdered, and on May 
12, 1588, the Day of Barricades, the streets were defended by 
the people against an attack of the royal mercenaries. The 
king fled to Chartres, and left the capital to Henry of Guise, 
who assumed a position like that of the mayor of the palace 
under the Merovingians. At length, on Christmas Eve 1588, 
after a States-General held at Blois, in which the Murder of 
Guises showed their superiority, the king took the Henry of 
decisive step of murdering Guise and his brother, Guise, 
the cardinal, and seizing the heads of their parties. This 
hastened the death of Catherine of Medici, who expired on 
January 5 ? 1589. 



544 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. lseo-ieio. 

This violent action did not bring peace. The duke of 
Mayenne took his brother's place as head of the league. The 
king, deserted by his friends, excommunicated by the pope, 
despised by the people, without army or money, was forced to 
liitike an alliance with Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots 

in July 1589. He besieged Paris, and threatened 
p"§g ° to destroy it, when the dagger of a fanatical 

Dominican monk, James Clement, put an end 
to his life and avenged the murder of the duke. The last 
Valois died on August 1, 1589, and was succeeded by Henry 

of Navarre and Beam, descended from the fourth 

HSr^m ' son of Saint Louis> Hem 7 IV - ha<1 to % ht for 
his throne. The League was supported by 

Spanish troops under the duke of Parma ; it would prefer 

to receive a king from the hand of Philip II. than to suffer 

a Calvinist to occupy the throne of Saint Louis. Henry, 

however, defeated Mayenne at the battle of Ivry in 1590, 

and blockaded Paris. Still his victory was incomplete ; Spain 

increased her forces, Mayenne openly claimed the throne, and 

was supported by many princes of France, so that the unity 

Henry IV. °f the kingdom was threatened. Henry IY. came 

becomes a to the conclusion that Paris was " worth a mass," 

Catholic. and on July 25, 1593, was received as a member 

of the Catholic church in the cathedral of Saint Denis. Upon 

this, Paris opened her gates, the heads of the League came to 

terms, the pope removed his ban, and Philip II. made peace 

in the treaty of Yervins, 1598. 

Henry IV. is justly regarded as the founder of a new French 

monarchy. On April 13, 1598, the Edict of Nantes was issued, 

by which Catholics and Protestants were placed 

T j 1 ® Edict in a position of complete equality. The reign of 

Henry was a time of peace, and stands in the 

annals of France as a golden age. Assisted by his admirable 

minister, the duke of Sully, the royal exchequer was always 

full and the people were relieved from taxes. The fondness 

of Henry for the female sex was scarcely regarded by his 

subjects as a crime, as Sully took care that France should 

not be governed by the king's mistresses. Henry's marriage 

with Gabrielle d'Estreys was prevented by her death. His 

marriage with Margaret of Valois having been dissolved by 

the pope, he took a second wife in the person of Mary of 

Medici. He was attempting to use his powerful position to 

bring about a union between the powers of Europe, to make 



a.d. 1558-1603] THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 545 

peace between the three confessions of Catholics, Lutherans, 

and Oalvinists, in order to oppose the rising predominance 

of the house of Austria, when he was murdered 

by Eavaillac on May 14,1610. He was especially Henr "iV 

a king of the people, living with them and 

beloved by them. He engaged in manly sports, partly from 

the impulse of an exuberant nature, partly to escape from 

gout. At the same time, the apparent simplicity of his nature 

did not prevent him from being a distinguished diplomatist. 

He was every inch a king, and no devotion to pleasure or 

conviviality ever induced him to forget his duties as a monarch. 



THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH, A.D. 1558-1603. 

We must now take up the story of the great Elizabeth, 

who reigned from 1558 to 1603— in spite of internal troubles, 

civil and religious, one of the most brilliant „,. , .. 
. ° ' . Elizabeth 

periods m Jinglisn history. Her accession came an d the 

at a critical period in the history of the world. Counter 
The Counter Reformation was making great Reforma- 
progress on the continent, and in the reign of n " 

Mary had been accepted in England. It threatened not only 
the religion of England, but the crown itself, because one of 
its doctrines was that no heretics could occupy a European 
throne. During the reign of Mary, England had been practi- 
cally a province of Spain. Philip, anxious to continue the 
state of things, offered marriage to Elizabeth, which was firmly 
declined, as Elizabeth desired above everything an independent 
position for her country. Pope Paul IY. had been a violent 
opponent of Spain, and his death in 1559 altered the relations 
between that country and the papacy, but the danger of alliance 
between Spain and France against England was removed by 
the death of Francis II., the husband of Mary Queen of Scots. 
Elizabeth was able to ward off the influence of the Counter 
Reformation from England by keeping up friendly relations 
with France, though these were threatened by the massacre 
of St. Bartholomew, and by secretly assisting the Netherlands 
against Philip. The Counter Reformation grew in strength 
till 1570, when the pope took the violent step of absolving the 
subjects of Elizabeth from their allegiance. But this action 
caused dissensions between the Catholic powers of Europe. 
The reign of Elizabeth falls naturally into three divisions, 

2 M 



546 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1558 to 

the first ending with the bull of excommunication issued by 
Pius V., the second with the beginning of the war against 
Spain in 1585, and the third with her death in 1603. The 
chief minister of Elizabeth was William Cecil, 
Cee'i am Lord Burghley, the founder of a family which 

has, ever since, rendered great service to the 
country. The main object of his life was to preserve peace. 
He was born in 1520, and was educated at Cambridge. By his 
marriage he became connected at court with the party which 
was favourable to the new learning and Protestantism. He 
was first appointed as secretary of state in 1550, but retired 
from political life after three years, and again became secretary 
of state in 1558. He was created Lord Burghley in 1571, and 
became lord treasurer in 1572. He died in 1598. His chief 
characteristics as a statesman were caution and moderation : 
he was deficient in initiative, but, as before said, he was a 
passionate lover of peace. He was before his age in possess- 
ing sound knowledge of commerce and finance : he reformed 
the coinage, encouraged maritime commerce, put down the 
irregular piracy which was rife at that time, and asserted the 
right of England to trade in the New World. His eminently 
cautious character tended to develop the same qualities in his 
sovereign, to which her temperament gave her a natural in- 
clination, and which have sometimes been the cause of accusation 
against her. 

In 1559 an Act of Supremacy was passed similar to that passed 
by Heury VIII. in 1534, which severed England from papal 
Acts of jurisdiction and established the Court of High Corn- 

Supremacy mission. This was accompanied by an Act of Uni- 
and formity which ordered the clergy to use a revised 

Uniformity, version of the second Prayer Book of Edward VI., 
and imposed a fine of a shilling upon the laity for absence from 
church without reasonable excuse. The Protestant exiles returned 
and received the name of Puritans, and other religious refugees 
arrived during the progress of the reign. Matthew Parker, a 
high churchman, who had received Catholic ordination, was 
made archbishop of Canterbury. The year was also remarkable 
for the return of John Knox to Scotland. In 1560, the treaty of 
Relations Berwick made between Elizabeth and the Scotch 
with lords, who had expelled Mary of Guise from the 

Scotland. regency, provided that the English queen should 
drive the French garrison from Scotland, on condition that the 
lords acknowledged Mary as their queen, and, in the same year, 



a.d. 1603] THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 547 

after the conspiracy of Amboise and the fall of the Guises, 
by the treaty of Edinburgh, Mary was pledged to surrender 
her claim to the throne of England, and not to employ foreign 
troops without the permission of the Scotch Estates. But in 
1561 Mary, returning to Scotland after the death of her 
husband, refused to ratify the treaty of Edinburgh. 

Mary Stuart was one of the most gifted and brilliant women 
known in history. She was beautiful, charming, and affable, 
well educated, accomplished in music and poetry, 
full of fun, and calculated to win all hearts. The ^ 

French poems which she has left us show the warmth of her 
feelings and her mastery over the language. Nothing is more 
touching than the poem in which she expresses her sadness in 
leaving her beloved France and returning to the fatal and 
repellent shores of her own country. Elizabeth also wrote 
poetry, but her compositions express rather reason and reflection 
than spontaneity and charm. She also impressed the hearts of 
men, but rather by masculine strength of character than by 
charms which inspired passion. Elizabeth had spent her youth 
in stern seclusion, which had trained her in self-command and 
had initiated her in the art of caution and even of duplicity. 
Mary's youth had been free, open, and cheerful. Fond of 
splendour and representation, she followed the impulse of the 
moment. While Mary sought to bend all events to her personal 
desires, Elizabeth had learnt to subordinate her own gratifica- 
tion to higher objects. But the circumstances of the time 
demanded characters like Elizabeth's rather than like Mary's, 
It was the mission of England, regardless of her ruler's 
personal tastes, to stand amongst the states of Europe as the 
vindicator of the Protestant cause and of political independence. 
In Scotland the situation was even less to the sovereign's mind. 
The Scotch had no sympathy with Mary's devotion to the 
Catholic religion or with her light foreign ways. The predomi- 
nant part of the Scotch character was displayed in John 
Knox, and it is difficult to imagine a stronger contrast to Mary 
Stuart. The struggle between the two remarkable queens 
represented in its character the antagonism of the age, one of 
those epochs which stand out brilliantly in history, like the age 
of Pericles or the seething rivalries of the last years of the 
Roman republic — a time when personal qualities are permitted 
to shape the destinies of the world. It is a pity that such 
a subject was not illustrated by the genius of Shakespeare, but 
it has received attention from the inferior talent of Schiller. 



54§ A GENERAL HTSTORY [ad. 1558 to 

In 156], the Caraffa pope, Paul IV., made offers of reconcilia- 
tion with England, which were rejected by the queen. She met 
Elizabeth them by a stricter repression of Romanism, and 
and by imposing an oath acknowledging the royal 

Paul IV. supremacy over the church on every member of 

the House of Commons, on all persons taking a university 
degree, and on others similarly situated. She also gave help to 
the Huguenots, and in the following year the Thirty-Nine Articles 
were drawn up. But in 1564 a reconciliation was made between 
France and England by the signature of the peace of Troyes. 
In the following year, the fatal marriage took place between 
Mary queen of Scots and Darnley. He came of 
Marriage of a c atnolic f am ii y settled in England, a branch of 
the Stuarts descended from Margaret, sister of 
Henry VIII., by her second marriage with the earl of Angus. 
He was a man of twenty, tall and well made, with personal 
attractions which might fascinate a woman like Mary at first 
sight. She fell in love with him. The union was pressed on 
by his ambitious mother, and Henry was married and proclaimed 
king. But his true character soon became apparent to his 
wife. He was vain and weak ; his manners were rough ; he 
had no love of literature or art. He found congenial com- 
panions in the wild aristocracy of his country, who delighted in 
the chase and tumultuous living. Elizabeth was soon informed 
that Mary had lost her love for her young husband. She 
insisted upon his being regarded as consort instead of king, 
and omitted his head from the coinage on which it had 
previously appeared. Darnley was angry at this, and attributed 
it to the influence which an Italian favourite, David Rizzio, 
exercised over his wife. A conspiracy was formed, and Rizzio 
was murdered in the queen's apartments. Darnley was cer- 
tainly cognisant of the plot, if he did not take an actual part 
in it. Mary, who was deeply wounded in her feelings both as 
a woman and as a queen, said, with foreboding sullenness, 
" The time for tears has passed, — we must now think of 
vengeance." Less than a year later, on February 10, 1567, 
Darnley was murdered in the Kirk of Field. 
Dannie* ° f Bothwe11 was the chief author of the crime, but 
it is impossible to doubt Mary's complicity in it, 
although the so called " casket letters," which are held to 
establish it, may be to a great extent forgeries. Bothwell was 
tried for his life, appearing before the court attended by an 
armed throng and riding Darnley's favourite horse. He was 



a.d. 1603] THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 549 

acquitted, and the verdict was ratified by Parliament. Mary 
exhibited an infatuated passion for him, and said that she would 
sooner lose France and England, and wander in her shift to the 
ends of the world with Bothwell, than desert him in his time of 
need ! On April 24, Bothwell was divorced from his wife, and 
on May 15, he married Mary at Holyroocl, according to the 
rites of the Protestant church, and was created duke of Orkney 
and Shetland. This was too much for the Scottish lords. On 
June 15, 1567, was fought the battle of Carberry Hill, in which 
Mary and Bothwell were entirely defeated. Bothwell escaped 
to the Hebrides, where he led the life of a pirate, was taken 
prisoner by the Danes, and died in confinement Dethrone- 
as a lunatic. Mary was brought in triumph to ment and 
Edinburgh, and imprisoned in the island castle of Flight of 
Lochleven, where she was compelled to renounce Mary. 
the crown and to appoint her half-brother Moray regent, during 
the minority of her son, James VI. Mary contrived to escape, 
recalled her abdication, and, assisted by the powerful family 
of Hamilton, fought the battle of Langside, on May 13, 1568. 
Here, however, she was again defeated, and fled to England, 
to place herself under the protection of Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth refused to have an interview with Mary so long as 
she lay under the accusation of having murdered her husband, 
but promised that she would restore her to her 

throne if she could refute the charges which were „ ar . y 1T \ 
t t -tot i ,1 England, 

brought against her by Moray and otner accusers. 

Mary protested that Elizabeth had no right to try her, as she 
was an independent sovereign, and Moray was unwilling to 
admit the authority of the queen of England in this respect. 
Mary continued to live in England in a condition of half 
imprisonment, but there is no doubt that her existence there 
was a danger to Elizabeth's throne and life. The duke of 
Norfolk had designs on Mary's hand, but in consequence lost 
first his liberty and then his head. The old faith had many 
supporters in the northern counties, and the earls of Northumber- 
land and Westmorland raised the standard of rebellion, in 
order to persuade Elizabeth to set Mary free and to declare her 
right to the throne. They also proclaimed the restoration of 
the Catholic church, and sought help from foreign powers. 
Northumberland, betrayed by the Scots, with whom he had 
taken refuge, died on the scaffold ; Westmorland escaped to 
Flanders. 

Michael Ghislieri, a narrow-minded fanatic, held the papal 



550 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1558 to 

throne under the title of Phis Y. from January 6, 1566 to May 

1, 1572. He was a reincarnation of Paul IY., the embodiment 

„ „. „ of the Tridentine spirit. His one pleasure was 
Pone Pius V ... . 

v ' devotion ; his delight was to walk in processions 

with bare feet and bare head, with a long white beard. But 
he was a cruel tyrant ; he was obeyed everywhere, but obeyed 
with terror. He supported the Jesuits against England, Philip 
against the Netherlands, Catherine of Medici against the Hugue- 
nots, whom he hated so much that he ordered that they should 
never be made prisoners but immediately killed. On February 
The Papal 25, 1570, the pope issued a bull depriving Elizabeth 
Bull of of her kingdom, releasing her subjects from their 

1570. allegiance, and forbidding both nobles and people 

to obey her any longer. The bull was handed to the cardinal 
of Lorraine, who was to publish it in England. It was intended 
to support the rebellion in the north, but it arrived too late for 
the purpose. It was eventually published in London by a 
devoted Papist named Felton, who was tortured and executed 
for his pains. It was met in 1571 by an Act of Parliament 
which made it treason to impugn the queen's title to the 
throne, followed by another which forbade the performance of 
Roman services, reconciliation with Rome, or the publishing 
Elizabeth °f bulls in England, under heavy penalties. But, 
and the although Elizabeth was stern against the en- 

Puritans, croachment of Rome, she was equally severe 
against Puritans. Strickland, a Puritan, who proposed to 
amend the Prayer Book, was forbidden to attend Parliament, 
and Cartwright, who professed the same opinions, was expelled 
from Cambridge. In 1576, the more moderate Grindal succeeded 
the high churchman Parker as archbishop of Canterbury, but, 
in the following year, he was suspended from his office for not 
being severe enough against the Puritans, and died in 1583. 

Pope Gregory XIII., the successor of Pius Y., had been, in 
his youth, devoted to the pleasures of the world, but, crowned 
with the tiara, he endeavoured to emulate the 
regory piety of his predecessor. He gave to the world, 

on February 15, 1582, the Gregorian calendar to 
take the place of the Julian ; it was, however, rejected by Pro- 
testant countries as a papal invention. He showed great favour 
to the Jesuits and in 1579 founded a Jesuit college 
Irel d m * n R° me ' with the special object of converting 
England. Their activity was not long delayed. 
A rebellion in Ireland, stirred up by FitzMaurice, executed 



ad. 1603] THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 551 

by Desmond, and blessed by the pope, failed, and the foreign 
troops sent to assist surrendered at Smerwick. A more formid- 
able attack, led by Campion and Parsons, was made upon England. 
They began by modifying the bull of Pius Y., 

explaining that it only referred to Elizabeth and . 1 Jesui s 

. in England, 

her councillors ; that the English Catholics might 

obey Elizabeth so long as she was queen de facto. If she were 
deposed or killed, it would be their duty to obey the bull. It 
was declared to be no sin to obey a de facto sovereign, but the 
bounden duty of Catholics to support any efforts made to 
change the government. The example of Judith and Holophernes 
was recommended for imitation. Mendoza, who had made him- 
self conspicuous in France, was sent to occupy the post of Spanish 
ambassador in England, which had been vacant for six years, 
and he gave every support to the Jesuit mission. He reported 
to his government that the nobles of the north, the supporters of 
Norfolk and Northumberland, were ready for a rising. Walsing- 
ham, the most powerful assistant of Burleigh, was charged with 
the task of defeating the designs of the foreign priests. They 
were denounced, seized, tried, and condemned for 

high treason. Campion, Sherwin, Bryant, and Execution 

& P , , . r '. ' J , ' , . of Campion, 

many 01 tneir companions were executed m 

November 1581. At the same time, the Puritans were sternly 

repressed by Elizabeth's third Archbishop, Whitgift, and the 

court of High Commission was vigorously used for this purpose. 

The blood of Campion did not cease to bear fruit. Francis 

Throgmorton, an emissary of the Jesuits, was executed in 1584 

for his share in a Spanish plot. William Parry, Renewed 

who had been a favourite at court, returned from Plots 

Rome with the intention of murdering his former against 

benefactor, and even became a member of Parlia- Elizabeth. 

ment, and at his trial a letter was found written to him by the 

archbishop of Como giving the blessing of the Holy Father to 

his enterprise. These designs on Elizabeth's life and the 

murder of William of Orange, which happened at the same time, 

led to the expulsion of Mendoza from England in 1584, and the 

foundation in 1585 of an association to protect the life of the 

sovereign. A so-called bond was disseminated throughout the 

country and exposed for signature in the churches, binding 

everyone who signed it to contend personally against any 

attempt upon the life of the queen, so that if he violated his 

oath he would be guilty of perjury. All this threatened the 

position of Mary. She corresponded with the statesmen and 



552 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1558 to 

sovereigns of Europe, not as a prisoner, but as a proud and 

independent sovereign : " Two things," she said, " you cannot 

take away from me — my royal blood and my devotion to the 

religion of my fathers." The conspiracy of Anthony Babington 

was formed in 1586. He was a young man of 

a mg on s f or t une anc | education, who had been Mary's pa^e 
Conspiracy. cn n , , , ' . n J . r • p. 

at Sheffield, and had conceived an enthusiastic 

admiration for her. Inspired by John Ballard, a friend of 
Campion, he came to England, found means of seeing Mary, who 
was then imprisoned at Chartley under Sir Amyas Paulet, and 
promised her that, with the help of a hundred trusty men, he 
would set her free and place her 'on the throne. Mary listened 
with favour to his proposal, but it is doubtful whether she had 
any knowledge that the murder of Elizabeth was part of the 
design. The plot was betrayed to Walsingham by Gilbert 
Gifford, who treacherously served both sides, and, just when 
Mary was expecting the day of her freedom, Babington, Ballard, 
Savage, and Tichborne were arrested, imprisoned in the Tower, 
and executed. Mary's correspondence was seized at Chartley, 
and her secretaries, Nau and Curie, arrested. Mary was 
removed to Fotheringay in Northamptonshire, where she was 
kept in close confinement. 

It was determined to place her upon her trial. Her cause 
was heard in the great hall at Fotheringay, and, although she 
Trial and pleaded that as a sovereign she was not subject 
Execution to the jurisdiction of any court, she was con- 
of Mary. demned to death. The verdict was laid before 

Parliament, which begged the queen to give effect to the 
sentence, for the maintenance of religion, the peace of the 
kingdom, and the security of her person. Elizabeth was in 
great difficulty ; for weeks and months she could not make up her 
mind. It is said that she endeavoured to induce Mary's keeper, 
Sir Amyas Paulet, to poison her, which he indignantly refused 
to do. The sentence and the vote of Parliament were published 
in London on December 26, 1586, and led to a demonstration of 
popular feeling. At length, on February 1, 1587, hard pressed 
by her advisers, she signed the fatal document, but said that she 
would defer its confirmation by the great seal. Burleigh deter- 
mined to dispense with this necessary formality, and gave orders 
for the queen's execution. On February 18, Mary passed from 
her apartments into the hall where she had been tried, clothed 
in black satin, an ivory crucifix in her hand, and met her fate 
with the dignity of a queen. She was now fifty-three years old, 



a.d. 1603] THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 553 

having been a prisoner for eighteen years. Her hair was grey 
with age and sorrow, but she died as she had lived, instinct with 
regal majesty, and faithful to the doctrines of her church. The 
news was received in London with acclamation, bells were rung 
and the streets were illuminated ; but Elizabeth burst into tears, 
and was filled with wrath. She complained that her authority 
had been violated ; she would not speak to Burleigh, and threw 
the Secretary Davidson into the Tower. The anger which 
Mary's son James ought to have shown was, however, entirely 
appeased by the promise of the succession and copious sums 
of money. 

Two years before Mary's death, war had broken out between 
England and Spain. The cause of the war was obvious. Philip 
had determined to extirpate Protestantism and to 
make Spain supreme in western Europe, and he a^ain 1 
laid claim to the exclusive possession of the ISTew 
World, a pretension which was not likely to be tolerated by sea- 
faring Englishmen, the countrymen of Drake and Raleigh. Eliza- 
beth made a treaty with the Netherlands, and Leicester was 
sent to help them. Raleigh founded a colony in Virginia, and 
Drake destroyed San Domingo and Carthagena, and, in 1587, 
burned the Spanish shipping at Cadiz. But the culrnination of 
the struggle lay in the preparation of the Great Armada, which 
was to bring victory to Philip, and the destruction of which is 
still one of the foremost glories of our country's history. 

The Great Armada was a collective enterprise of the Catholic 
world to ruin England as the champion of Protestantism. 
Pope Sixtus V., the famous Felice Peretti, car- 
dinal of Montalto, the most powerful pope of the Armada 
century, occupied the papal throne from April 24, 
1585 to August 24, 1590. He had accumulated in the castle of 
St. Angelo a larger treasure than any other sovereign possessed. 
His money enabled Philip to build his huge fleet in the harbours 
of Lisbon and Cadiz. Cardinal Allen wrote to Philip: "With 
the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, with which you have 
crushed the Turks and triumphed over your rebellious subjects, 
you will also chastise the English heretics and that cursed woman, 
hated by God and men, and bring our noble nation back to its 
ancient glory and freedom." A manifesto, issued by Allen and 
Parsons, called upon all English Catholics to take up arms 
against the excommunicated queen. The losses inflicted by 
Drake at Cadiz had been healed; more than 130 ships lay at 
anchor in that harbour fully equipped. So powerful a naval 



554 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1558 to 

armament had never been witnessed in the western seas. A 
huge army of horse and foot, recruited in the Catholic provinces 
of the Netherlands and other places, was collected on the coasts 
of the Channel to support the fleet. Transports had been pre- 
pared in Antwerp, Nieuport, and Dunkirk. Success seemed 
certain. The appearance of the Armada in the Channel would 
be the signal for a rising of Catholics in Ireland, Scotland, and 
England herself. The expedition was to have set sail in the 
autumn of 1587, but the Admiral Santa Cruz represented that 
so stormy a season would be disastrous to the expedition, and it 
was put off. Santa Cruz died in the winter, and the command 
was given to Medina Sidonia. This breathing space was utilised 
by England for vigorous preparations. The whole country set 
itself to provide a navy. Howard of Effingham was made lord 
admiral, Drake and Hawkins lent their aid, the queen reviewed 
her troops at Tilbury, and the Catholic families declared that 
they would stand by their country in the hour of need. 

The Armada left Lisbon in the second half of May 1588, but 
the weather was stormy, and the expedition did not reach the 
Channel till the middle of summer. It had been 
Defeat o arranged that the fleet should meet the trans- 

ports off Margate, and that, while Medina Sidonia 
sailed up the Thames, Alexander of Parma should march to 
London. The Armada was sighted off Plymouth on July 31, 
and was immediately attacked by a crowd of light ships, who 
worried it as a crowd of terriers might bait a bull. They could 
not, however, stop it, and, on August 6, the admiral reached the 
Straits of Calais. A landing was impossible without the help 
of Parma, and he lay idle in his harbours. At midnight a 
swarm of fireships was let loose from Dover against the un- 
wieldy galleons of the Spaniards. A panic seized them, they 
weighed their anchors to escape the danger, and a south-west 
wind drove them towards the coast off Gravelines. Next clay 
the English attacked them in full force, and the work of 
destruction was completed by a storm : " God blew with His 
winds and scattered them." Nothing remained for the de- 
feated Armada but to return to Spain, and the only path 
lay by the coasts of Ireland and the north, and remains of 
the shipwrecked fleet are still found upon the iron-bound coasts 
of the sister island and in the fiords of Orkney and Shetland. 
England had for the first time in her history recognised her 
strength and the heroic character of her population. The defeat 
of the Armada is the beginning of England's greatness and the 



ad. 1603] THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 555 

triumph of her national consciousness. It justifies and explains 
the reputation of the reign of the Virgin Queen as the most 
brilliant epoch in our history. 

The remainder of the reign need not detain us long. An 
expedition undertaken by Drake and Norris against Philip in 
Portugal failed. In 1591, George Raymond and _ 
James Lancaster made a voyage to the East of Elizabeth. 
Indies, which led to the foundation of the East 
India Company. The death of Sir Richard Grenville at Flores 
in the Azores, celebrated in poetry and music, belongs to the 
same year. Elizabeth continued to take a middle course between 
different conflicting religions, and, in 1593, Acts of Parliament 
were passed against the separatist Puritans who had left the 
Church of England and formed bodies of their own, then- 
leaders Barrow, Greenwood, and Penry being hung on the 
charge of sedition, while a law was passed against Popish 
recusants. The last year of Elizabeth's life also saw the 
reduction and pacification of Ireland, which, by its Catholic 
religion, was a danger to the English throne. In 1595, the 
rebellion of O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, who was assisted by 
Philip, was put down by Sir John Norris ; a second Armada 
equipped for the relief of that country was destroyed like the 
first, for England is well defended by the stormy seas and 
tempests which break upon her shores ; and Ireland was at 
length systematically reduced by Mount joy. In 1598, as already 
mentioned, the long war between Spain and France was put an 
end to by the treaty of Yervins, and Philip also died in the 
same year, feeling that his attempt to establish a Spanish and 
Catholic supremacy over the neighbouring country had failed. 
Rather, in the course of history, Spain was to be subordinate 
to France. 

In England, meanwhile, monopolies were abolished, and a 
poor law was passed, which remained for a long time a guide for 
our treatment of poverty, and by which, in every 
parish, the churchwardens and the overseers of ^ aw 
the poor were empowered to levy a poor rate to 
be used in giving work to able-bodied persons out of em- 
ployment, in relieving deserving but destitute poor, in build- 
ing houses of correction, and in apprenticing suitable children. 
Elizabeth never recovered the shock of the execution of her 
favourite Essex, to which she had reluctantly consented, and 
the conviction that her power and influence were not what 
they had been. She spent days and nights lying on the floor 



556 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1558-1603 

supported by cushions, speechless, refusing medical aid. She 
rallied sufficiently to summon to her side Cecil, Egerton, and 
Howard, and declared to them that the king of the Scots should 
be her heir. Then she died on March 24, 1603, Archbishop Whit- 
gift kneeling at her bedside, in the seventieth year of her age and 
the forty-fifth of her reign. She had fought and won a victory 
memorable in the history of the world. The independence and 
power of England are inseparably bound up with the annals of 
her rule. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, A.D. 1608-1648— ENGLAND, 
A.D. 1603-1649. 

The Thirty Years' War, which lasted from 1618 to 1648, and 
which now claims our attention, was a direct product of the 
Reformation struggle. The Protestants, clamouring for a 
trustworthy religious peace, persecuted in Styria, Carinthia, 
and Carniola, where the Jesuits were supported by the Archduke 
Ferdinand, formed in the year 1608 an Evangelical ^he 
Union under the Elector Palatine, Frederick IV., Evangelical 
who was a strong supporter of the Reformation. Union. 
It was joined by the princes of Neuburg, Hesse, Cassel, 
Brandenburg, Baden, and Wiirtemberg, but not by the elector of 
Saxony. To oppose this a Catholic League was formed in 1609, 
under Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. They came to blows over 
the disputed succession in Julich, Berg, and Cleve, but soon 
made peace. The Emperor Rudolph II. was a clever and 
learned man, but he was no statesman, and he was unfitted to 
rule. He lost Transylvania, and would have lost Hungary too, 
if his brother Matthias had not insisted upon his delivering the 
country to him, together with Moravia and Austria. He was 
afraid of losing Bohemia also, and attempted to suppress the 
Protestants in that country ; but, when they threatened him 
with arms, he gave in and issued in their favour a " letter of 
majesty," in which he allowed them, as adherents of the 
confession of Augsburg, a free exercise of their religion. The 
Bohemian Estates assembled and chose Matthias for their 
king, while the German princes compelled him to summon a 
Diet for the election of a successor. This insult caused his 
death in 1612, and Matthias received the imperial The 
crown without opposition. As he was already Imperial 
advanced in years and without children, he was Succession, 
persuaded to nominate as his successor, his cousin Ferdinand, 
a descendant of Maximilian II., who was acknowledged by 

557 



558 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. leos to 

Bohemia in 1617, and by Hungary in the following year. But 
the violent action of Ferdinand against the Protestants in 
his hereditary dominions caused the Protestants of Bohemia to 
fear similar persecutions, notwithstanding the protection of the 
letter of majesty, and they resolved, if possible, to prevent his 
succession. 

At this time, party spirit was stimulated by the celebration 
of the Jubilee of the Reformation in 1617, the threats of the 
The Defene- Jesuits to root out heresy, and the appointment 
stration of of two men whom the Protestants specially 
Prague. detested, Martinitz and Slavata, as members of 

the imperial commission sent by Matthias to Prague. These 
things made the Bohemian Protestants more distrustful than 
ever. Matters were not improved by the treatment by the 
emperor of two new Protestant churches, one of which, at 
Klostergrab in the see of Prague, was pulled clown, while the 
other, at Braunau, was ordered to be closed. The remonstrance 
of the Protestants was met by threats. In consequence, their 
leading representatives made their way into the council cham- 
ber, where four of the imperial council were sitting, and 
threw two of them, Martinitz and Slavata, as well as the secre- 
tary Fabricius, into the castle ditch — a deed known in history 
as the " Defenestration of Prague." 

Seeing that a breach was now inevitable, the Protestant 
estates took possession of the government, drove out the Jesuits, 
and occupied some fortified towns. In this 
Years' War manner > the Thirty Years' War began in 1618. 
Ferdinand, who had, in the meantime, been 
crowned king of Hungary, invaded Bohemia with two armies, 
while the other party sought the protection of the Union, 
which had, since 1610, placed the Elector Palatine, Frederick 
V., at its head, and had received the support of Brandenburg, 
Anhalt, several counts, and sixteen imperial towns. It began 
to open negotiations with Duke Charles Emmanuel of Savoy, 
holding out to him the prospect of the imperial crown. He 
could not accept these offers, but sent money to raise mer- 
cenaries, and Count Ernest of Mansfeldt to command them, 
who had recently defeated the imperial troops at Czaslau. 
Mansfeldt conquered Pilsen, and forced the imperial generals to 
treat for peace. But on May 20, 1619, the Emperor Matthias 
died suddenly, upon which Ferdinand seized his hereditary terri- 
tories, the inhabitants, however, refusing to do him homage. 
Lower Austria took the part of Bohemia, and Count Thurn, 



a.d. 1648] THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 559 

supported by Bethlen Gabor, prince of Transylvania, marched 
upon Vienna, but, when Mansfeldt had been defeated at Budweis, 
he was obliged to retreat. 

Ferdinand II. was unanimously elected emperor at Frank- 
fort, upon which the Bohemian Estates declared the throne of 
their country vacant and elected Frederick V., r^e 
Elector Palatine, as their king. He had married "Winter 
Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of England, a King "of 
princess who possessed, in great measure, the Bohemia, 
beauty and charm of her grandmother, Mary Stuart, and won 
all hearts, — and whose praises English poets like Sir Henry 
Wotton sang. Urged by the arguments of the court preacher 
Scultetus and of Christian I. of Anhalt-Bernburg, Frederick 
at last agreed to accept the precarious dignity offered to him. 
On November 29, 1619, he received the homage of Bohemia, 
Moravia, and Silesia, and renewed the treaty with Bethlen 
Gabor, who had become master of Hungary. He was re- 
cognised by Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and the Evangelical 
Union. He did not, however, conduct himself with wisdom, 
and became less powerful than his rival Ferdinand, who was 
supported by the wise and powerful statesman, Maximilian of 
Bavaria. Ferdinand received assistance from the pope and 
from Spain, the government of Poland sent him 8000 Cossacks, 
and John George of Saxony, although a Lutheran, was induced 
to take his side by the promise of Lusatia. 

Maximilian marched into Upper Austria with the forces of 
the empire and the League, reduced the Protestants there to 
obedience, invaded Bohemia, and entirely defeated Battle of 
King Frederick in thebattle of the White Mountain, the White 
close to Prague, on November 8, 1620. Frederick, Mountain, 
who has always borne the name of the " Winter King," gave up 
all resistance and fled, first to Silesia and then to Holland. He 
now came under the ban of the emperor, who deprived him of 
his position as elector, seized the places occupied by Mansfeldt, 
reduced Moravia, and compelled Bethlen Gabor to make peace 
and to renounce his pretensions to the Hungarian crown. 
Bohemia was forced to become Catholic, the Union was dis- 
solved, and the struggle was reduced to a conflict between Tilly 
and Mansfeldt. Tilly was beaten by Mansfeldt 
at Wiesbach in 1622, but soon afterwards took ™£f eS 
his revenge at Wimpfen and Hochst, overran the 
Palatinate, and plundered Heidelberg and Mannheim. The 
cause of Frederick was entirely lost ; Mansfeldt and his faithful 



560 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. leos to 

.supporter Christian of Brunswick took service in Holland. 
Maximilian received for life the rank of elector, forfeited by the 
conduct of Frederick. Tilly was made an imperial count, and 
commanded the forces of the League. 

After a short interval, Mansfeldt and Christian appeared in 
the field with fresh forces, enlisted with Dutch money, and the 
assistance of William and Bernhard of Weimar. But Christian 
was defeated by Tilly at Stadtlohn in 1623, so that he was obliged 
to return to Holland, where he was soon followed by Mansfeldt. 

At this time, France, under the control of the 
ic e leu illustrious Cardinal Richelieu, becoming jealous 

of the success of Austria and Spain, made a secret 
alliance with England, Holland, and Denmark, and sent assist- 
ance to the Protestants in Germany, although Richelieu was 
persecuting them in his own country. Christian IV. of Denmark 
also came forward as a leader of the Protestant cause, while the 

emperor accepted the support of Albert of Wallen- 
Wallenstein. ,J , L . -, rr , -, ■ 

stem, who raised an army at Ins own expense, 

and offered it in defence of the empire. This remarkable man, 
more properly called Waldstein, was born in 1583, the younger 
son of a rich Bohemian nobleman, educated by the Jesuits at 
Olmiitz, and also at Altdorf, Padua, and Bologna. In his youth, 
he fought in Hungary against the Turks, in Italy against the 
Venetians, and received the title of count. Becoming wealthy 
by an inheritance from his uncle and a rich marriage, he raised 
a regiment of cuirassiers at his own expense, with which he helped 
the emperor to subdue Moravia, and fought against Bethlen 
Gabor in Hungary. He was created duke of Friedland in 
Bohemia, and afterwards prince. He now commanded an army 
of 50,000 men. Richelieu, pressed by the Huguenots, was 
obliged to retire from the confederacy, of which the pope had 
never approved, and this gave new strength to the Catholic 
cause. 

The war reopened with a struggle between Mansfeldt on the one 
side and Tilly and Wallenstein on the other, until Mansfeldt, 
worn out with his exertions, died on November 20, 1626. It is 
said that, when he felt his end approaching, he put on his armour, 
and, supported by two aides-de-camp, died standing. Even before 
Wallen- this, Christian of Brunswick had reached the end 

stein's of his wild, passionate life at the age of twenty- 

Victories, seven, and King Christian of Denmark had been 
conquered by Tilly. Wallenstein occupied Silesia, and, uniting 
with Tilly, conquered Mecklenburg, and drove out both its 



a.d. 1648] THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 561 

dukes. He then advanced to Holstein, and laid waste Schleswig 
and Jutland, not sparing Brandenburg and Fomerania. In 
1628, he was created by the emperor duke of Mecklenburg, 
attempted to get possession of the coast of Pomerania, and, with 
this object, laid siege to Stralsund, which was, however, success- 
fully defended by the help of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, 
who now enters upon the scene. Wallenstein now Sweden and 
found himself opposed by Sweden and Denmark, Denmark 
who were supported by England, France, and intervene. 
Holland, so that, in 1629, he thought it advisable to conclude 
the peace of Liibeck with the king of Denmark. Yet the 
cause of the Protestants was in evil case. Bohemia had, by 
harsh measures of persecution, been driven to become Catholic ; 
Maximilian had procured for himself the hereditary possession 
of the Palatinate ; and the emperor had induced the Catholic 
Estates to pass an " Edict of Restitution," by which 
all the property which had fallen to the Protestants SjtSi?^? 
under the treaty of Passau was to be restored, 
including the bishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg. The 
Jesuits, moreover, were masters of the situation, and the condi- 
tions of the religious peace were no longer observed. The terms 
of the edict itself were frequently changed so as to include 
property which had been Protestant before the peace of Passau. 
Augsburg, the cradle of the Lutheran creed, was placed under a 
Catholic bishop. Other imperial towns were forced to submit, 
but Magdeburg boldly withstood Wallenstein's Croatian troops. 
The emperor was, however, forced to mitigate his severity, 
because the German electors, led by Maximilian of Bavaria, 
became jealous of Wallenstein, and pressed Ferdinand in a Diet 
held at Regensburg, in 1630, to deprive him of his command. 
He had, indeed, assumed the arms of an independent prince, 
and the expense of his luxury had become enormous. His 
soldiers were guilty of great excesses : they destroyed churches, 
plundered indiscriminately, and reduced the peasants of the 
countries they occupied to such straits that they had to eat 
grass, and sometimes, it is said, the flesh of their own children. 
Ferdinand said that he would grant the electors' request if they 
would consent to the nomination of his son Ferdinand as his suc- 
cessor. They refused, but the emperor was compelled to dismiss 
Wallenstein, though he left him in possession of Mecklenburg. 

Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, now took a leading 
part, landing on June 2, 1630, with 15,000 brave Swedish 
soldiers, on the island of TJsedom, and occupying the coast of 

2 N 



562 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1608 to 

Pomerania, whence he issued a manifesto to the Protestant 
princes to assist him in maintaining the cause of their religion. 

He possessed the soul of a hero in a powerful 
Adolrrtms Doc ty> anc ^ was ni the flower of his age. He united 

deep seriousness of character with friendliness 
and affability. He was versed in science, spoke four languages, 
and illustrated theological learning by heartfelt religion. He 
had exhibited great bravery in wars against Denmark, Russia, 
and Poland, and he now came into Germany, leaving the re- 
gency in the hands of a council of which his faithful minister 
Oxenstiern was president, and having persuaded the Estates to do 
homage to his only daughter, Christina, who was still a child. 

Gustavus Adolphus, assisted by Duke Bogislav of Pomerania, 
drove the imperial troops out of part of that country, advanced 
into the Marches, and made preparation for the defence of 
Magdeburg, which was threatened by Tilly. Having made an 
alliance at Leipzig with several German princes, who were 
reluctant to trust him as a foreigner, he liberated Mecklenburg, 
took Frankfort on the Oder by storm, obtained leave to occupy 
Spandau as a place of arms, and asked John George of Saxony 
to permit him to march through his country to the defence of 
the beleaguered city. But while the elector was hesitating as 
to whether he should grant this request, on May 10, 1631, 

Tilly and Pappenheim conquered and destroyed 
Kfcurdebure- ^ e town °^ Magdeburg, fifteen thousand of the 

inhabitants perishing in the storm. The storm- 
ing of Magdeburg and the terrible cruelties which accompanied 
it are without parallel in any event of modern history, and 
rest as an indelible disgrace on the characters of Pappenheim 
and Tilly, whatever pains have been taken to repel the charge. 
On September 7, four months later, Gustavus Adolphus exacted 
vengeance for this crime by completely defeating Tilly and 

nearly killing him in the battle of Leipzig, which 
Battle of a | g0 -^ ears the name of Breitenfeld. This caused 

the whole of Protestant Germany to regard him as 
their leader, and the wavering John George was compelled to 
take his side. Gustavus now marched through Franconia, 
established a Swedish governor in Wiirzburg, threatened 
Frankfort, crossed the Main at Oppenheim, took Mainz, and 
frightened the elector of Trier into seeking safety in neu- 
trality. As in the meantime Tilly had captured Bamberg, 
Gustavus, committing the defence of the Rhine territories to 
Bernhard of Saxe Weimar, advanced through Nuremberg, 



ad. 1648] THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 563 

which received him with joy, to the frontiers of Bavaria, 
crossed the Lech, where Tilly was mortally wounded, and was 
solemnly received in Augsburg as conqueror on April 5, 1632. 
He then entered Munich in triumph just as the elector of 
Saxony was obtaining a similar honour in Prague. Tilly, who 
had conquered in thirty-six battles, died of his 
wounds at Ingoldstadt, leaving, in contrast to Tillv 
Wallenstein, only a small fortune. Ferdinand 
was now obliged to turn for assistance to this haughty general, 
who would only grant it on the condition of being endowed with 
absolute command, which Ferdinand was forced to concede. 
Wallenstein tried to recover the lost territories of Bohemia and 
Bavaria, and established himself at Eger on the frontiers of 
both. The armies lay opposite to each other for eleven weeks, 
at the end of which Gustavus stormed Wallenstein's camp with 
the loss of 2000 men. But on November 6, 1632, was fought 
the fatal battle of Liitzen, in which the hero 
Gustavus Adolphus was killed, his faithful Swedes , * 
avenging themselves by a complete defeat of 
Wallenstein, under Bernhard of Saxe Weimar. He would not 
have been killed if he had not fallen from his horse and revealed 
his name to the imperial cuirassiers, who shot him through 
the head. 

The death of the Swedish king was a terrible blow to the 
Protestant cause. His place was taken by Axel Oxenstiern in 
civil and by Bernhard of Saxe Weimar in mili- 
tary matters, but the situation was made better 5™ p er ° f . 
by the murder of Wallenstein at Eger on 
February 25, 1634. Finding that the Emperor was again jealous 
of his power, he had entered into negotiations with France and 
Sweden. The emperor was not in any way responsible for 
the murder. An Irishman named' Butler had promised the 
two imperial generals, Gallas and Piccolomini, that he would 
deliver Wallenstein to them, alive or dead, and the latter 
alternative seemed the easier of the two. His life and death 
have been immortalised by the genius of Schiller. His great 
fortune was confiscated, and divided amongst his enemies. After 
the departure of the two protagonists, the war loses its interest. 
The Swedes were defeated in the battle of 
Nordlingen in 1634, and Saxony made a separate ™: ~® of 
peace with the emperor in 1635. The war 
dragged on till 1648, but was now a' struggle between France 
and the empire for mastery in Europe rather than a conflict 



564 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1608-1648 

between two religions. The Emperor Ferdinand II. died on 
February 16, 1637, at the age of thirty-nine, and was succeeded 
by his son Ferdinand III. During these weary years, neither 
party gained any special advantage, but Germany suffered from 
both, and was exposed to a devastation from which it is some- 
times said that she has not even now recovered. Movements 
towards peace were begun in 1642, but the peace of Westphalia, 
a great European settlement, was not concluded till October 
24, 1648. 

The peace of Westphalia stands on the same level as the 

treaties of Utrecht, Vienna, and Berlin. By it, France was 

confirmed in the possession of Alsace, and of the 

Westphalia three bisho P rics > Metz > Toul > and Verdun. Sweden 
obtained considerable possessions in Germany, 
which were of little use to her and eventually proved her 
destruction, together with an indemnity of five million thalers. 
Bavaria retained her electorship, but an eighth electorship was 
founded for Charles Louis, the son of the unfortunate Frederick. 
Switzerland and the Netherlands obtained the acknowledg- 
ment of their independence. Quarrels about property between 
Catholics and Protestants were settled on a reasonable basis. 
The pope, indeed, declared the treaty null and void, but the 
bull in which this judgment was pronounced was never pub- 
lished in Germany. The Thirty Years' War entirely destroyed 
Germany ^ ne prospects of Germany, as it existed at that 
after the time. Half its inhabitants perished by the sword, 
War. fire, and plague ; many towns were annihilated, 

all suffered loss ; countless villages disappeared ; the land was 
turned into a desert ; music, art, and literature ceased for a time 
to exist. It is said that in the war 10,000,000 human beings 
lost their lives. The population of Augsburg was reduced 
from 80,000 to 18,000. In Hesse there were burned 300 
villages, 17 towns, 47 castles; in Wiirtemberg 158 manses, 
65 churches, and 3600 other dwellings. Worst of all, the war 
produced a terrible deterioration of German manners and 
morals. Until the rise of Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller, the 
place of Germany in civilisation was entirely occupied by 
France. 

The Thirty Years' War was nearly contemporaneous with the 
Civil War in England, of which we must give some account, but 
the plan of this book does not admit of much detail in English 
affairs, which ought to be studied in special histories, 



a.d. 1603-1649] ENGLAND 565 



ENGLAND, A.D. 1603-1649. 

The reign of James I., the successor of Elizabeth, lasting 
from 1603 to 1625, may be regarded as a prelude to that of 
Charles I., which ended in 1649. The ruin of the 
empire and the debasement of the papacy upset 
the idea that royal power was derived from the one and con- 
secrated by the other, and sovereigns were driven to claim 
divine right independently for themselves. James made him- 
self conspicuous and even ridiculous in this respect, and he 
attempted to preserve the balance between the two religions 
by marrying his daughter to a Catholic prince, his son to a 
Catholic princess, having himself wedded the daughter of a 
country which was passing from Catholicism to protestantism. 
He, however, preferred the subseivience of the high church 
bishops to the brutal frankness of the Presbyterians. Al- 
though the Thirty Years' War broke out in his reign, and 
was closely concerned with members of his family, England 
took little share in it, partly from the national distrust of 
Buckingham and partly from want of money. For the first 
nine years of his reign, James was advised by Cecil, but after 
his death he fell into the hands of unworthy favourites. The 
year of his accession, which formed a personal union between 
England and Scotland (changed into a complete union in the 
reign of Anne), is marked by the Millenary Petition asking for 
relaxation in ceremonial observances ; and two plots, the Main 
and the Bye, the first intended to overthrow Cecil, and probably 
place Arabella Stuart, descended from the second marriage of 
Margaret Tudor, on the throne, and the second to secure tolera- 
tion. In the following year, a conference was held at Hampton 
Court between the bishops and the Puritans, which brought 
about the breach between the two parties, and produced the 
Authorised Version of the Bible, published in 1611, a master- 
piece of English literature. James held four Parliaments in his 
reign — the first in 1604, the second, called the Addled Parlia- 
ment, in 1614, the third in 1621, and the fourth in 1624. The 
first was marked by the peace with Spain, the Gunpowder Plot, 
and the persecution of Roman Catholics, and the quarrel between 
King James and Parliament with regard to the right of impos- 
ing customs. The Addled Parliament, elected by the influence of 
agents of the court called " undertakers," was so called because 
it was dissolved before passing any laws. Six years of arbitrary 



566 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1603 to 

government followed, marked by the influence of George Villiers, 
duke of Buckingham, whose friendship was so disastrous to 
Charles I. This period contains the execution of Sir Walter 
Raleigh in 1618, the sailing of the May Floiuer in 1620, 
and the foundation of New England by the Puritans. The 
third Parliament was summoned to obtain money to assist 
James' son-in-law, the Elector Palatine, which was refused, 
although the Commons were in favour of an anti-Spanish and 
and anti-catholic policy. The Commons, in opposition to the 
king, asserted their right to discuss all matters of state. James 
tore the protest out of the journals of the house, and dissolved 
Parliament. The fourth Parliament declared monopolies illegal, 
approved of a marriage between Charles and Henrietta Maria 
of France, which brought about a breach with Spain, and con- 
templated a war with that country for the recovery of the 
Palatinate, giving Mansfeldt 12,000 soldiers to help the Dutch, 
which ended in failure. In 1625 James died, and was succeeded 
by Charles I. 

Charles was certainly an admirable man, and, in many re- 
spects, an excellent sovereign. During recent years, historical 
research has turned public opinion in his favour, 
and few would now approve of his execution. He 
believed in the divine right of kings, and had little sympathy 
with popular government. He led a pure life, was deeply 
religious, and was devoted to art, and stands, perhaps, alone 
amongst our sovereigns in the last respect. His reign came at a 
time when the powers held by the crown and those claimed by 
the Parliament came into conflict, and Charles had not sufficient 
intellectual ability to cope with the difficulty. Consequently, 
as might be expected in that position, he was more obstinate 
than firm, yielding when he ought to have been severe, and 
refusing to change when he ought to have given way. He 
belived in the right and duty of a sovereign to govern, and said, 
upon the scaffold, that king and people were " clean different," 
which describes his fundamental principles of conduct. During 
the first four years of his reign, 1625 to 1628, Buckingham was 
his minister, and three Parliaments were held, of which the first 
and third had two sessions. A dispute immediately arose about 
First Dis- money. The Commons voted two subsidies, but 
putes with would only give tonnage, which was a tax upon 
Parliament, every ton of liquor, and poundage, which was a 
tax on every pound of dry goods, for one year instead of for life. 
Charles objected to this, and they were not given at all. In the 



a.d. 1649] ENGLAND 567 

second session, Parliament attacked Dr. Montague, the king's 
chaplain, and Buckingham, showing that the troubles of the 
reign had both a religious and a political side. Parliament was 
dissolved. In the second Parliament, Sir John Eliot came to 
the front, a very strong man, who held the opinion that Parlia- 
ment, and not the king, should govern the country, a view 
which was not supported by legal precedent. To carry out this 
principle, committees were appointed to investigate the evils 
which existed in the government, and were certainly inherited 
from the time of James. At the same time, both Montague 
and Buckingham were impeached, and Charles, to save Bucking- 
ham, dissolved Parliament. He had to raise money by a forced 
loan, and by the collection of tonnage and poundage without a 
grant ; he also offended people by billeting soldiers in private 
houses. In 1627 Charles went to war with France, taking up 
the cause of the Huguenots against Louis XIII. , his wife's 
brother. Buckingham led an expedition to La Rochelle, the 
stronghold of the French Protestants, which entirely failed. 
The third Parliament held two sessions, one in 1628 and one 
in 1629, in which the conflict between the two divergent prin- 
ciples of government began in earnest. Sir Thomas Went- 
worth, afterwards earl of Strafford, though a strong supporter 
of the power of the crown, did not approve of the policy 
of Buckingham, which he saw was weakening the principles 
that he desired to secure. He therefore joined Buckingham's 
adversaries and introduced a bill for reform. His policy was 
not accepted by Charles, and the battle had to be conducted by 
Eliot, assisted by Coke and Selden, who were distinguished 
lawyers. They introduced a bill entitled a Petition of Right, 
demanding, on the ground that they were asking 
for ancient rights, that forced loans and taxes fo- m 
without the consent of Parliament should be con- 
sidered illegal, that imprisonment without cause shown should 
be declared contrary to law, that soldiers and sailors should not 
be billeted in private houses, and that martial law in time of 
peace should be abolished. As England has never had a written 
constitution, and precedents can be cited on both sides, it is 
difficult to draw a distinction between legality and illegality, 
and some claims asserted by the reformers were certainly dis- 
putable ; but it has been greatly for the advantage of England 
that the popular party won, and those who fought for it deserve 
honour. Charles reluctantly assented to the petition, and then 
prorogued Parliament and made Laud bishop of London, for he 



568 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1603 to 

took decidedly the side of the high church clergy. Wentworth, 
not being able to follow Eliot, joined the king ; Buckingham was 
assassinated ; and tonnage and poundage continued to be collected 
without the sanction of Parliament. 

In the session of 1629, three resolutions proposed by Sir John 
Eliot were forcibly passed, the Speaker being held down in his 
chair. They declared that all who favoured innovation in 
religion, or advised the collection of tonnage and poundage 
without parliamentary authority, or voluntarily paid such taxes, 
were enemies to the kingdom. This was undoubtedly a great 
advance on previous action, and partook of a revolutionary 
character. Charles first adjourned and then dissolved the 
p , Parliament. Eleven years of personal govern- 

Government men ^ without a Parliament followed, lasting from 
— Went- 1629 to 1640, during which time the king's chief 

worth and advisers were Wentworth, Laud, and Weston. 
Laud. Wentworth was made president of the Council of 

the North and afterwards lord deputy of Ireland. He was a 
conscientious believer in government by a king, and was person- 
ally devoted to Charles. He was an excellent ruler and ad- 
ministrator, and estranged the nobles by his independence and 
impartiality. His plans failed because they were opposed to 
the spirit of the age ; this was no time for an autocracy. Laud 
was a conscientious but narrow-minded high churchman, who 
supported uniformity of religious ceremony. He would allow 
no divergence from his own principles and practice, and naturally 
drove England into a revolt. Weston held the post of treasurer 
till 1635 ; he was a high churchman, but a good financier. 

Charles ruled the country by means of Councils — the Privy 
Council, the Star Chamber, the Council of the North, and the 
Court of High Commission — the first two dating back to 
medieval times, the others being Tudor creations. Eliot was 
imprisoned in 1629, and died in the Tower three years after- 
wards. Peace was made with France and Spain. In 1633, 
Wentworth become viceroy of Ireland and Laud archbishop 
of Canterbury. Wentworth governed Ireland Avell, introduced 
the cultivation of flax, and formed a standing army. In 1634, 
ship money was levied in the maritime counties and towns, 
for the defence of the country against pirates, 
M JP which was perfectly legal, but in 1635 it was 

extended to the inland counties of the kingdoms, 
and John Hampden refused to pay it. At the same time 
Laud's attempt to impose a new liturgy and canons in Scotland 



a.d. 1649] ENGLAND 569 

called into existence the National Covenant in 1638, in conse- 
quence of which Episcopacy was abolished and Presbyterian 
government restored. In 1639, Charles, in defence of Laud's 
scheme, fought what is called the " First Bishops' ip^g pi r3 t 
War" against the Scots, which was ended by the Bishops' 
peace of Berwick. This policy required money War. 
for its execution, and Went worth, now created earl of Strafford, 
advised the summoning of a Parliament, so that the fourth or 
Short Parliament was called in 1640, in which 
Pym was leader of the popular party. The p .. , 

House of Commons refused to grant supplies 
unless grievances were redressed, and Parliament was dissolved. 
The " Second Bishops' War" now took place, in which Charles was 
defeated by the Scots at the battle of Newburn, Second 
and by the Pacification of Ripon was compelled Bishops' 
to pay the expenses of the Scotch army until War. 
terms could be finally arranged. Charles, in his difficulties, 
now summoned a Great Council of peers to meet at York, a 
body resembling the council of the notables before the French 
Revolution, and they advised the calling of a Parliament. 

The fifth Parliament of Charles, called the " Long Parlia- 
ment," met in 1640. The Commons at once impeached Strafford 
and Laud and the lord chancellor, Finch. It 

beine; impossible to prove that Strafford was guilty t, e ,- on ^ r 
e + • 4. +1 1 • *- 1, • + / Parliament, 

or treason against the king, to whose interests 

his life was devoted, it was sought to establish that he was 
collecting an army in Ireland with the view of coercing Parlia- 
ment in England. Next year, finding that the impeachment 
was likely to fail, his enemies in the Commons introduced a 
bill of attainder against him — a violent and forcible action 
which it is difficult to defend. He was eventually condemned, 
and executed on May 12, 1641, Charles deserting 
his interests in a weak and cowardly manner. st^ff^d 
In this year, also, a Triennial Act was passed, 
providing that Parliament should be summoned at least every 
three years, and should not sit longer than three years : from 
distrust of Charles, however, it was afterwards enacted that 
the existing Parliament should not be adjourned or dissolved 
without its own consent, and the Long Parliament did not 
actually come to an end till the Restoration of 1660. Other 
acts passed in 1641 abolished the Star Chamber, High Com- 
mission, Council of the North, and other courts ; also ship 
money, distraint of knighthood, and tonnage and poundage not 



570 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. leos to 

granted by Parliament. Finally, the " Grand Remonstrance," 
a vote of censure on Charles' government, passed the Commons 
The Grand D y a small majority. It denounced the acts of 
Remon- the king, recounted the good deeds of the Long 

strance. Parliament, sketched a programme of further re- 

forms, and demanded the appointment of ministers " in whom 
Parliament might have cause to confide," the removal of bishops 
from the House of Lords, and the settlement of church matters 
by the king and Parliament on the advice of an assembly of 
Protestant divines, English and foreign. In 1642, Charles 
answered this by attempting the arrest of five members of 
Parliament, Hampden, Pym, Holies, Haselrig, and Strode ; and 
when this action failed and the members were protected by the 
city of London, and it was certain that public opinion was against 
the king, he left London, and the civil war broke out which 
ended by his execution in 1649. 

The disputes which occasioned this war were both civil 
and religious. The conflict on the civil side was whether the 
country should be ruled by king or Parliament, 
War 1V1 an< ^ on ^ ie re ligi° us s ide whether Puritanism or 

the High Anglicanism of Laud should be the 
religion of England. During the struggle the Houses put before 
the king various schemes for a settlement — the Nineteen Pro- 
positions, and the Propositions of Oxford, Uxbriclge, and New- 
castle — at first demanding practically the transfer of sovereignty 
from the crown to Parliament — then, as their political demands 
relaxed, increasing correspondingly their religious claims from 
the settlement of religion by a Synod to the abolition of Episco- 
pacy, the establishment of Presbyterianism, and the taking of 
the Covenant by Charles himself. Speaking very roughly, the 
gentry took the side of the king, the middle and commercial 
classes supported Parliament ; the north-west of England was 
Royalist, the south-east Parliamentarian. In the first two years 
of the war, the king was successful. He set up his standard 
at Nottingham, and, having recruited his army in the west, 
marched to London. On the way the battle of Edgehill was 
fought. The result was indecisive, and the march continued ; 
but Charles was repulsed at Turnham Green and retreated 
to Oxford, which became his headquarters during the war. 
An Eastern Association was formed, to support Parliament, 
comprising the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, 
and Hertford, while the king depended on his army at Oxford, 
and on the forces of the earl of Newcastle in the north, and of 



a.d. 1649] ENGLAND 571 

Sir Ralph Hopton in the west. A number of battles took 
place in 1643, the result of which was generally in favour of 
the king, but he was unable to effect his main purpose of 
capturing London. In 1644, the war entered on a new phase, 
the king being assisted by an Irish army and by Montrose in 
Scotland, and Parliament by the Scots. On July 2, the battle 
of Marston Moor was fought, in which the vie Battle of 
tory was won largely by Cromwell's Ironsides, a Marston 
body of men which he had specially trained and Moor. 
organised on principles of strict piety and morality. The 
result of this was that York fell into the hands of Parliament, 
and the north of England was lost to the king. At the end of 
this year, Cromwell determined to remodel the army, and, owing 
to the growth of his influence, Independency threatened to out- 
weigh Presbyterianism in the Parliamentary party. 

In 1645 Laud was executed on January 10, and in February 
the parliamentary army was remodelled, officers being chosen 
for efficiency and soldiers receiving regular pay, but the majority 
of the officers were Independents. On June 14, Cromwell and 
Fairfax defeated Charles at Naseby, the royal 
army was destroyed, and letters were discovered It h 
which made it possible to accuse Charles of 
treasonable correspondence with France, just as Louis XVI. 
was accused in the French Revolution. The war continued, but 
the results were generally against the king; on May 5, 1646, 
he surrendered to the Scots at Newark ; and on June 20 the 
war came to an end by the surrender of Oxford. There was 
now an interval of peace. In 1647 the Scots handed over the 
king to the Parliament, and he was confined in 

Holmby House. But a division broke out be- Charles a 

irrison.Gr 
tween the Parliament and the army, as violent as 

that between Parliament and the king, Parliament being in 
favour of Presbyterianism and a more oligarchical government, 
the army in favour of complete religious toleration and demo- 
cratic government. Parliament voted that the army should be 
reduced in numbers and that all the officers should take the 
Covenant. It also opened negotiations with the king for his 
restoration. The army refused to disband, and seized the person 
of the king, confining him first at Newmarket and then at 
Hampton Court, and made proposals for a settlement based on 
a temporary limitation of the royal authority, the revival of 
Episcopacy, with toleration of all sects except Roman Catholics, 
the establishment of triennial parliaments, and the reform of 



$72 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1603-1649 

the electorate. Charles temporised, and fled to the Isle of 
Wight. Discussions between the king and Parliament took 
place at Newport, but, at the same time, Charles was corre- 
sponding with the Presbyterian party and with the Scots, 
endeavouring to obtain better terms for himself. He was 
certainly guilty of duplicity, but his position was extremely 
difficult, and great allowances should be made for him. The 
result was a renewal of the civil war in 1648, 
thTwar ° cause d by an incursion of the Scots under 
Hamilton, in favour of Charles, and Royalist 
risings in the west and in Kent. The Royalists were defeated 
by Fairfax at Maidstone and the Scotch by Cromwell at 
Preston. The result of this was that the army, led by Crom- 
well, determined to put Charles to death for stirring up civil 
strife. By what was called Pride's Purge, the Presbyterian 
members favourable to Charles were expelled from Parliament, 
and what remained of it was called the Rump, 
ri es j n 1(349 the Rump appointed a special court of 

justice for the trial of the king, consisting of 135 
commissioners, of whom only 67 attended, the charge being 
high treason for levying war against his subjects. The acting 
members of the court were ,all personal enemies of the king, 
and the consequence was that he was condemned, and, on 
Charles January 30, he was taken on a cold winter's 

tried and morning from St. James' Palace to Whitehall, 
executed. where he was beheaded on January 30, 1649 — an 
action certainly illegal and probably disastrous, although this 
conclusion will be always a matter of controversy. 



CHAPTER V. 

FRANCE A.D. 1610-1659— ENGLAND A.D. 1649-1660. 

The Thirty Years' War, which was closed by the peace of 
"Westphalia in 1648, left France in a predominant position 
in Europe, which she well knew how to use to gratify her 
ambition. The man to whom she chiefly owed her triumph 
was Cardinal Richelieu, whom Louis XIII. had- placed at the 
head of the French government after he had discarded the 
favourites who served him at the beginning of his reign. By 
genius and strength of character, he consolidated the unity of 
France ; by putting down the overweening power of the nobles, 
by crushing the Huguenots — so that France might not be split 
up, as Germany was, by the quarrels of two religions — and by 
fortunate wars and other transactions, he succeeded in weaken- 
ing both Spain and Austria, who might well have been serious 
rivals of his own country. For the first nine First Years 
years after the death of Henry IV. in 1610, Louis of Louis 
was entirely in the hands of his mother, Mary of XIII. 
Medici, assisted by foreign favourites, the chief of whom was 
the Florentine Concini, better known as the Marechal d'Ancre. 
The result of this was that the heads of the lower branches of 
the royal house, the prince of Oonde and the Guises, withdrew 
into their own provinces, and made war against the crown. 
They insisted on the king's being declared of age, hoping 
that when he was free from his mother they would be able to 
control him. But Mary retained her power, and married Louis 
to Anne of Austria, the daughter of Philip III. of Spain. Conde 
now endeavoured to upset the power of d'Ancre, but the 
wily Marechal got the better of him, arrested him, and made 
war against his adherents. In 1617, d'Ancre was murdered 
by another favourite of the queen, Luynes, upon which she 
retired from Paris with all her counsellors, and left the king 
to govern by himself. His first act was to summon an assembly 
of notables, in which he passed a number of reforms, which 
were never carried out. Luynes remained chief minister of the 

573 



574 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. i6io to 

king, but he was unable to curb the nobles in their attempts 
to make themselves independent of the crown, to protect the 
commons from their oppression, or to put an end to the disas- 
trous struggle with the Huguenots. But, when Luynes died, 
the king, finding that he could not govern without a minister, 
by the advice of his mother, appointed Armand Jean du Plessis, 
bishop of Lucon, afterwards cardinal and duke 
of Richelieu, who was born in 1585. Richelieu's 
strong will soon asserted his authority over the king, the 
queen, and even the queen mother herself. He effected this 
by his statesmanlike genius, but also by determining that he 
would be no mere favourite, that he would not attach himself 
to any prominent party, and that he would seek no exceptional 
favour either for his family or for himself. He became minister 
in April 1624, and soon gave evidence of his qualities. The 
marriage of Charles I. with Henrietta Maria was deter- 
mined upon, the alliance with Holland renewed, and a firmer 
attitude adopted against Spain. In August he got rid of his 
patron Vieuville, and became president of the council. He set 
himself to reduce the Huguenots to obedience, and made a treaty 
with them at Barcelona on May 10, 1625. A plot was made 
against the cardinal by the Marechal Ornano, governor of the 
brother of Louis, Gaston, duke of Orleans ; but Ornano and 
his confederate Chalais were imprisoned, Chalais being executed 
and Ornano dying in confinement before the end of the year. 
La Rochelle, the last refuge of the Huguenots, was finally 
conquered in November 1628. 

The two queens, Mary of Medici and her daughter-in-law, 
impatient of the influence of Richelieu over the king, at- 
tempted to drive him from the court, but the cardinal managed 
to make their efforts fatal to themselves, and Mary was com- 
pelled to leave Paris, and died in exile at Cologne. A more 
serious conspiracy against the cardinal's authority was that 
Conspiracy °f ^he marquis of Cinq-Mars, a young favourite 
of Cinq- of the king. It was formidable because among 

Mars. the conspirators were Gaston of Orleans, the duke 

de Bouillon, and the parliamentary councillor de Thou, son of 
the famous historian, and, worst of all, the king was aware of 
the plot, and yet said nothing about it. The conspirators had 
engaged in a treasonable correspondence with Spain, and when 
this was laid before the king he could not refuse to consent 
to the execution of Cinq-Mars and de Thou, but the two dukes 
were pardoned. During these trials, Richelieu was so weak in 



a.d. 1659] FRANCE 575 

health that he had to be carried in a litter, and he died in 
Paris on December 4, 1642. Richelieu was a truly great 
minister. Asked upon his death-bed to pardon his enemies, 
he said that he had never had any enemies except the enemies of 
the government and the king, and this was true. Like Wolsey, 
he loved splendour in his mode of life. He was surrounded by 
a bodyguard of young nobles ; he built a palace at Rueil, where 
he lived in greater splendour than the king, received foreign 
ambassadors, and granted innumerable audiences. His prin- 
cipal palace in Paris was afterwards known as the Palais Royal. 
He surrounded himself with artists and men of letters, and 
paved the way for the brilliant epoch of Louis XIV., while he 
took great interest in the development of the French language. 
The French Academy, founded in 1635, was his creation, and 
four years earlier Paris saw the publication of the first weekly 
newspaper, the Gazette de France. 

Louis XIII. died himself on May 14, 1643; he was a 
prince without conspicuous merits or serious faults, not without 
goodness of heart, but easily influenced by those 
he liked, a puppet in the hands of Richelieu. By t ou j s xiv 
his will, he appointed a council of regency for 
his son, who was five years old, consisting of the queen — called 
Anne of Austria, although she was really a Spaniard — his 
brother Gaston, his uncle Conde, and five other councillors, to 
whom was added Cardinal Mazarin, a Sicilian 

TVL J3 7e\ T1T1 

by origin, who had been specially recommended 
for the post by Richelieu. He had held the position of papal 
nuncio, and had shown great capacity for business. He soon 
acquired supreme power, not so much by the commanding 
qualities which distinguished Richelieu as by astute diplomacy 
and his power of making himself agreeable to the queen. He 
diverted the attention of Frenchmen from internal affairs by 
cleverly keeping up a condition of war on the frontiers, and 
in all the quarrels and intrigues which marked the commence- 
ment of the reign managed to extract advancement for him- 
self from the strife of others. His diplomacy determined the 
conclusion of the peace of Westphalia', and gained for France 
valuable possessions on the Rhine. 

The civil war called the Fronde followed in 1649. Fronde 
is a sling, and the Frondeurs were Davids slinging stones against 
the Goliath Mazarin. All who were discontented 
joined hands to overthrow the minister. It was 
a personal movement with very little principle at the root of it. 



576 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. ieio to 

The leader of the Fronde was Paul Gondi de Retz, coadjutor of 
his uncle, the archbishop of Paris, and eventually cardinal. 
He was of Florentine origin, and his family had risen under 
the protection of the queen. He at first attempted to make 
Conde the head of the movement, but, when that failed, he 
turned to his younger brother Conti, and his sister the duchess 
of Longueville. The court moved for safety to St. Germain, 
while the leaders of the Fronde remained in Paris. The Parlia- 
ment asserted its independence, and withstood the tyranny of 
the court, and was assisted by the great nobles, Bouillon, 
Beaufort, Conti, Longueville, and Turenne. A war of skirmishes 
took place, and Conde defeated the Fronde at Charenton on 
February 8, 1649. Conferences for peace took place in 
Richelieu's palace at Rueil. The execution of Charles I. of 
England disposed the court to moderation, and with the help 
of Matthieu Mol4, the president of the Parliament, an outward 
appearance of peace was secured. As the war with Spain was 
still protracted, how could success be hoped for if the two 
great generals Concl6 and Turenne were at strife ? But Conde 
was not popular, and understood better how to win battles 
than hearts. His quarrel with de Retz and other Frondeurs 
divided Mazarin's enemies; Mazarin saw his opportunity; and 
on January 18, 1650, Conde, Conti, and Longueville were arrested 
in the Palais Royal and imprisoned at Vincennes. An attempt 
being made to release them, they were brought for safety to 
Havre, and Mazarin wrested Rethel from the Spaniards, and 
defeated Turenne, who came to relieve it. This success, however, 
increased the hatred against the minister, so that all parties 
united against him, and at the beginning of 1651 he was driven 
into exile. He left Paris in the night of Febru- 
L 1 ^ .° ary 6, went to Havre de Grace, set free the pri- 

soners, who returned to Paris, and sought refuge 
in Cologne, where the Elector was a friend of his. A state of 
anarchy ensued, but Mazarin never lost the favour of the 
queen, and continued to conduct the war from his exile in 
Cologne. 

On September 7, 1651, Louis XIV., who was in his fourteenth 
year, was recognised by the Parliament as of full age, and, in 
spite of the opposition of Conde and of the fact that the Parliament 
set a price on his head, Mazarin joined the king's army at 
Poitiers on January 29, 1652, and assumed the conduct of affairs, 
supported by Mole. A civil war ensued, in which Turenne 
took the side of the court. A battle took place in the very 



a.d. 1659] FRANCE 577 

suburbs of Paris, in the quarter of St. Antoine, afterwards so 
prominent in the Revolution, on July 2, 1652, in which both 
sides fought with heroic bravery. But Conde was defeated, the 
court was able to return to Paris in October, and the Fronde 
was at an end. On February 8, 1653, the kins - 
met Mazarin at the gates of Paris, and conveyed £ ° 
him in his own carriage to the Louvre. Conde's 
star sank, and his brother Conti married a niece of the cardinal. 
Conde continued the war, with Spain, but Louis was crowned at 
Reims on June 7, 1654. As the opposition of the Parliament 
still continued, the king summoned a bed of justice, and 
coming suddenly from Vincennes, with his riding whip in his 
hand, addressed them with the memorable words, " L'Etat, c'est 
moi " (" I am the government"). Retz had had to take refuge 
in Italy, and could not return to Paris till 1662, where he lived 
till his death in 1669. Thus Mazarin made himself master of 
France. He was equally successful in his foreign policy. In 
March 1657 he made an alliance with Cromwell, the conditions 
of which were that the Stuarts should be expelled from France, 
freedom of religion granted to the French Protestants, and 
Dunkirk surrendered to England. With the help of Turenne 
and the English, not only Dunkirk but Gravelines, Oudenarde, 
Ypres, and other places were wrested from the Spaniards. In 
1659 Mazarin ended the war, which had lasted for twenty-five 
years, by signing the peace of the Pyrenees, the crowning work 
of his life. By this Spain lost Perpignan and Roussillon, and 
the Pyrenees became the boundary between the two countries. 
Spain also ceded to France Artois, part of Flanders, Hainault, 
and Luxemburg. The death of Cromwell on September 3, 1658, 
made the peace easier to conclude. 

Louis XIV. was deeply in love with Maria Mancini, the 
niece of Mazarin, but Anne of Austria would not hear of the 
union ; the young lady was sent off to La Rochelle, 
and Louis was induced to marry Maria Theresa, Marriage of 
the daughter of Philip IV. Conde, by Mazarin's 
influence, was reconciled with the king ; Beaufort was made an 
admiral ; Conti had married one of the nieces of the cardinal, 
the duke de Mercceur, younger son of Vendome, married another, 
and a third, Olympia Mancini, married the prince 
of Savoy — Carignan, the comte de Soissons — and 55 . 
became the mother of Prince Eugene. Mazarin 
died on March 9, 1661, reconciled with his enemies, the pos- 
sessor of enormous wealth, and of all the prosperity which an 

2o 



578 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d, 1649 to 

ambitious man could possibly desire. We must now return 
to England, and bring the history of that country down to the 
restoration of the Stuarts in 1660. 



ENGLAND, A.D. 1649-1660. 
Oliver Cromwell, one of the most remarkable of Englishmen, 
was born at Huntingdon on April 25, 1599. He was related to 
Thomas Cromwell, the Hammer of the Monks in 
liver .. the reign of Henry VIII., and it has been sur- 
mised that through one of his maternal ancestors, 
a Stewart, he was also a very distant cousin of Charles I. At 
the age of seventeen he became a fellow commoner of Sidney- 
Sussex College, Cambridge, a centre of Puritanism. He entered 
as a law student at Lincoln's Inn, and married, at the age of 
twenty-one, Elizabeth Bourchier, a cousin of the Hampdens. 
Eor twenty years after his marriage he lived as a Cambridge- 
shire country gentleman at Huntingdon, St. Ives, and Ely, 
where the house he occupied still exists unaltered. He was 
member for Cambridge in the Short and the Long Parliaments, 
and warmly supported the passing of the Grand Remonstrance. 
He took part in the civil war, and in 1643 formed the company 
of horse which was generally known as the Ironsides, raised by 
the Eastern Association, of which he was the soul — men of religion 
and strictness of life, animated by a democratic spirit, to oppose 
men of honour and courage. He fought with distinction and 
success at Winceby, Marston Moor, and Naseby, and conducted 
negotiations with Charles I. in 1647, but eventually brought 
about his execution in 1649. His character and career will 
always form the subject of dispute. He was certainly no 
fanatic, and exercised a moderating influence on the surging 
passions of his time, but his home government was not a success, 
and if it had been so the reaction which followed his death 
would have been less violent. He raised England to a very 
high position in Europe, and it has been said that he held the 
key of Europe in his girdle. 

Cromwell made peace with the Protestant states of Europe, 

but he did not succeed in uniting them into a league. He 

Cromwell's made peace with Holland, formed an alliance 

Foreign with Sweden, forced Denmark to open her waters 

Policy. to English ships, and obtained from Portugal 

freedom of trade in Portuguese colonies. He protected the 

Waldenses from the oppression of the duke of Savoy in the 



a.d. 1660] ENGLAND 579 

valleys of the Maritime Alps, a service immortalised in the 

verse of Milton, and forced France to interfere on their behalf. 

He made war with Spain, refusing to admit her exclusive 

possession of the New World, thus anticipating the policy of 

William Pitt. Finding France tolerant and Spain persecuting, 

he made an alliance with France against Spain, and defeated 

her in the battle of the Dunes, dealing her a blow from which 

she never recovered. He gave great attention to the navy, 

which under Blake obtained for England the supremacy of 

the sea, though she lost it under Charles II. 

The first step after the death of Charles was to abolish the 

monarchy and the House of Lords. The Commons, reduced to 

a House averaging 56, and nicknamed the Rump, Royalism 

continued to sit, and appointed a council of state finally 

to carry on the government. Ireland and Scotland Crushed. 

still continued Royalist, but the Irish were defeated at the 

battle of Rathmines, Cromwell himself storming Droghecla and 

Wexford, and acting with great cruelty. In 1650 Montrose, 

who was a great Royalist, was defeated at Corbiesdale and 

executed by the Presbyterians, and the Royalist opposition 

was completely crushed by Cromwell's victory of Dunbar on 

September 3. Prince Charles, who had signed the Covenant in 

1650, and was crowned at Scone in 1651, was defeated at 

Worcester on September 3, the anniversary of Dunbar, and the 

Royalists might then be regarded as entirely subdued both in 

England and in Scotland. But Parliament now passed the 

Navigation Act of 1651, with the object of en- , „ . 
• « Tlie Navi- 

couraging English shipping, which provided that g. a +i 0n A C 't 

no goods could be imported into England except 
in English ships or in ships belonging to the country in which 
the goods were produced, — and this was an alarming threat to 
the carrying trade of the Dutch, and naturally led to a war 
with Holland, the quarrel being intensified by 
the claim of England to search neutral ships, and ^ ^F w \ 
to be treated with special honour with regard to 
its flag. The naval commanders on either side were Blake 
and Tromp, and numerous engagements took place. In the 
year 1652 Ireland may be considered to have been finally 
settled by Cromwell. The Irish Catholics were 
deprived of a large portion of their lands, varying Settlement 
from one-third to two-thirds, many being banished 
to Connaught, and in the vacant territory a number of Crom- 
well's soldiers were settled. Cromwell, having subdued his 



580 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1649 to 

enemies, had now to establish a government which might take 
the place of the monarchy which had been abolished, and in 
this he found great difficulty. The whole government of 
England was founded on kingship, and when this was taken 
away the corner-stone of order disappeared. Cromwell found 
the remains of the Long Parliament, called the Rump, im- 
possible for the purpose, and in 1653 turned it forcibly out of 
the Parliament house, telling his soldiers to " take away that 
bauble," meaning the Speaker's mace. 

He first nominated a Parliament himself, which is known by 
the title of the Little Parliament, or Barebones Parliament, 
from the name of one member, but, after a short time, finding it 
impossible to work with Cromwell, it resigned, placing its power 
in his hands. The Council of Officers then drew up a written 
The Instru- constitution, called the Instrument of Govern- 
ment of ment, which deserves attention as an attempt to 
Govern- codify the principles of the constitution, which had 
ment. never yet been reduced to writing. The head of 
the government was called Protector, and by his side there was 
placed a Council of State, which he was obliged to consult on 
all important occasions. A Parliament representing England, 
Scotland, and Ireland was to be held at least once in three years, 
and to sit for not less than five months unless it consented to 
adjourn or dissolve. It was to have control over legislation, and 
over extraordinary taxation, but the ordinary revenue was to be 
raised without it. The Ministry, or, as they might be called, the 
chief officers of state, were to be appointed by the 
p . . protector, but approved by Parliament The pro- 
tector was to have a fixed revenue, out of which the 
army, navy, and the ordinary expenses of government were to be 
paid. The Instrument thus established a kind of constitutional 
government, but many questions were left unsettled, and it was 
obvious that all powers not definitely defined, but left uncertain, 
would come into the hands of the protector. It lasted, however, 
for about four years. In the first year of the new government, 
peace was made with Holland. Scotland and England were 
united by ordinance, not by act of Parliament, and free trade 
was established between the two countries. The court of 
Chancery was also reformed by ordinance. The 
hi ^ 1S ^ Parliament met in 1654, and it soon quarrelled 
with its creator, as a considerable number of 
Republican members were returned. Sir Henry Yane, who 
was a Republican, questioned the legality of Cromwell's rule, 



a.d. 1660] ENGLAND 581 

and Cromwell met his arguments by the well-known words, 
" Sir Henry Vane, Sir Henry Vane, the Lord deliver me from 
Sir Henry Vane ! " The result was that a hundred Republicans 
were expelled from Parliament, and the house itself was dis- 
solved at the end of five lunar months, possibly earlier than 
was intended by the Instrument. 

Cromwell, being now free from the trammels of Parliament, 
conquered Jamaica from Spain, the only result being that the 
ravages of the buccaneers came to an end, and a Military 
proper government was established in those parts. Govern- 
At home he divided the country into eleven mili- ment. 
tary districts, placing a major-general over each. This arrange- 
ment was approved by Milton, who was Cromwell's secretary, 
and worked fairly well, but it was scarcely compatible with 
constitutional government. Cromwell showed his power on the 
Continent by protecting the Waldenses in Piedmont, and 
making a treaty with France which secured the exclusion of the 
Stuarts. However, the treaty with France led to war with Spain, 
and in 1656 a second Parliament was summoned. This had to 
undergo purification by the exclusion of many Republicans and 
Presbyterians, with whose opinions Cromwell did not agree. 
In the following year, an offensive and defensive alliance was 
formed with France against Spain, and on April 20 the Spanish 
fleet was destroyed by Blake in the harbour of Santa Cruz, the 
capital of Teneriffe. 

Four years' trial had shown that the constitution established 
by the Instrument was impossible. The simplest plan would 
have been to make Cromwell king, just as Napoleon Cromwell's 
was made emperor, but although this was urged Constitu- 
upon him he hesitated to take the step, but he tional 
accepted the amendments to the constitution Difficulties. 
suggested in what was called the Humble Petition and Advice. 
By this, Cromwell was allowed to name his successor, but he 
was forbidden to exclude anyone from Parliament who had 
been duly elected. There were to be two chambers, one heredi- 
tary, the other elective ; religious toleration was to be accorded 
to all except Papists, Prelatists, and Socinians. This form of 
government did not succeed any better than its predecessor. 
After discussion about the conflicting powers of the two houses 
and debates which raised the formidable question of Crom- 
well's authority, Parliament was dissolved by the protector on 
February 4, 1658, with the words, "God be the judge between 
you and me ! " 



582 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1649 to 

The last year of Cromwell's life was gilded by the battle of 
the Dunes, in which the combined English and French gained a 

brilliant victory over Spain, the result of which, 
the Dunes as ^ ias Deen saic b was that England got possession 

of Dunkirk. But such honours could not revive 
the spirits of the wearied sovereign ; worn out with toil, disap- 
pointed at his failure to endow England with a strong govern- 
ment of liberal complexion, his life threatened with plots, so 
that he was never left unguarded and lost his power of sleep, 
harassed by Republicans on one side and Royalists on the other, 

amongst whom was his favourite daughter, Lady 
Cromwell Claypole, he died, like Napoleon, in a great storm, 

on September 3, 1658, the anniversary of Dunbar 
and Worcester, finding at last that rest which he so eagerly 
desired. 

His son Richard, the new protector, though a well meaning 
and virtuous man, was entirely unfit for a position of this kind. 

He summoned a Parliament, but from the old 
inter- constituencies, including the small boroughs, not 

from his father's reformed electorate. The burn- 
ing cpuestion of the relations between the civil and military 
power came immediately into prominence, and Richard was 
forced by the army to dissolve the Parliament. England was 
now without a constitutional government, and the officers found 

that they had no alternative but to recall the 
fhTllum Rum P, and on May 7, 1659, forty-three survivors 

of the Long Parliament met in the Parliament 
house, with Speaker Lenthall at their head. The executive 
power was placed in the hands of a " Committee of Security," 
consisting of eight generals and the three chief Republicans, 
Vane, Haselrig, and Scott. Besides this, a Council of State 
was formed of thirty-one members, sixteen from the army and 
fifteen from Parliament, amongst whom were Bradshawe and 
Whitelocke. They used a new Republican shield in place of 
that of the protector. Fleetwood was entrusted with the 
command of the army. Upon this, Richard retired into private 
life and died in 1674, Henry, Cromwell's second son, long 
surviving him. 

Even then the old strife continued, and the country was in 
a condition of anarchy, until a trustworthy general, who had 
won the reputation and position which he deserved, determined 
to restore the monarchy. George Monk, a country gentleman 
of Devonshire, had, under the orders of Cromwell, reduced 



a.d. 1660] ENGLAND 583 

Scotland to order, and had governed it peaceably for eight 
years, holding himself aloof from the disputes by which England 
was distracted. His sympathies were with the 
Presbyterians and the Parliament, and he de- w en > 
tested military rule. At the beginning of 1660 
he marched from Scotland to London, and, on January 11, was 
joined by Fairfax at York. Arriving in London, he declared in 
favour of a free Parliament, and summoned the surviving 
members of the Long Parliament, including the Presbyterians 
who had been expelled by Colonel Pride, in his famous Purge of 
1648. Monk was now completely master of the situation. He 
took care to say nothing about the return of the king, which, 
although the city equally desired it, would probably have pro- 
duced a civil war. In March the Long Parliament, after an 
existence of nearly twenty years, dissolved itself, and there 
was now no doubt that the king would be recalled. Monk 
sent a letter to Charles, who was at Brussels, by a fellow- 
countyman, Sir John Grenville, to assure him of his devotion. 
Charles immediately proceeded to Holland, and issued from 
Breda a Declaration, promising an amnesty, toleration of 
religion, confirmation of confiscated property, and payment of 
arrears to the army. A Parliament irregularly elected, called a 
Convention Parliament, met on April 25. An invitation to 
return was sent to Charles, and on May 29, 1660, 
his thirtieth birthday, long observed as a church 5? , rn °* 
festival, and even now remembered as Oak Apple 
Day, Charles entered the capital amongst the triumphant 
acclamations of the people. He received in Westminster the 
oaths of allegiance and of supremacy in the church, and 
promised to respect the privileges of both Houses of Parlia- 
ment and to work for the happiness of his people. 



CHAPTER VI. 

LOUIS XIV., 1661-1681— AUSTRIA AND THE TURKS, 1664-1699 
—LOUIS XIV., 1682-1697— ENGLAND, 1660-1685. 

Louis XIV., with St. Louis and Napoleon, one of the greatest 
Sovereigns that France ever possessed, began his independent 
Character reign after the death of Mazarin in 1661. He 
of Louis was a man of strong will, of distinguished ability, 

XIV. of rare dignity of character, and of indefatigable 

industry. The splendour of his court and his love of represen- 
tation have given a false impression of him. His idea was to 
consolidate the unity of France, and thus to make her the most 
powerful state in Europe, and this he could only do by personal 
government. He built the palace of Versailles as the seat of 
majesty, and attracted the provincial nobles to it, thus preventing 
provincial particularism, which might at any time have split 
France up into the component parts from which she had been 
laboriously formed, although he may at the same time have 
weakened her by destroying the force of the smaller political 
units of which she was composed. He befriended literature and 
art in all its branches. The splendour which attaches to the age 
of Louis XIV. is due more than anything else to the genius 
of the Roi Soleil, the Sun King. Great as he was in prosperity, 
he was greater in adversity, and nothing is nobler than his 
conduct in the troubles which beset him at the close of his 
reign in the disasters and disappointments of the war of the 
Spanish Succession. He never flinched under disaster ; he 
would have made peace if peace could have been obtained on 
honourable terms ; but he regarded honour as the first of virtues, 
and would do nothing to smirch it. He refused to turn his 
arms against his grandson, and his correspondence with him 
shows a delicacy which contrasts with the somewhat brutal 
assertion of control which is found in the correspondence of 
Napoleon with his brothers. He was an admirable diplomatist, 
and held the thread of all negotiations in his hands, while he 
made his will prevail not so much by self-assertion as by the 



a.d. 1661-1681] LOUIS XIV. 585 

industry which had made him master of the controversies he 
dealt with, and the acuteness with which he divined the proper 
course of action. He ma) 7 occasionally have been guilty of 
duplicity and harshness in dealing with weak states, but the 
more deeply his reign is studied, the more his greatness will 
be appreciated. He is no more responsible for the vices of 
Louis XV. and the incapacity of Louis XVI. than Caesar and 
Augustus were responsible for the madness of Caligula or for 
the vices of Nero. 

It is to his credit that he discovered and employed Colbert, 
and that he put up with Louvois, whose talents as a military 
administrator were necessary to his success. 
Colbert did not belong to the aristocracy either 
of the sword or the cope, but was the son of a merchant and 
was recommended to Louis by Mazarin. He paid special 
attention to commerce and manufactures, in order to increase 
the revenues of the crown, but he neglected agriculture, which 
proved afterwards to be an error. He established the famous 
factories of porcelain at Sevres and of tapestry at Gobelins, 
which became the best in the world, and still exist, but he 
established them by a system of strict protection, attempting 
to exclude all foreign products which might compete with those 
of France. He also favoured a system of internal duties, so 
that his financial policy was opposed to that which was 
supported by political economists a hundred years later, whose 
motto was " laissez faire," " laissez passer," freedom both of 
production and of distribution, and who also believed that the 
land, which Colbert decidedly neglected, was the source of all 
wealth. He was under the dominion of what is called the 
mercantile system, which believed that the wealth of a country 
depended upon the amount of gold and silver which it possessed 
— a thing which is certainly false in our own day and under 
present circumstances. Like Napoleon at a later period, he 
made roads and canals, especially the canal of Languedoc, to 
unite the Mediterranean with the Atlantic ; he founded com- 
mercial companies ; he established colonies in the East and the 
West Indies and in North America ; and he improved the French 
navy until it was the best in Europe. Owing to the extravagant 
court supported by Louis XIV., it was impossible 

to reduce the taxation, but Colbert kept the Louvois and 

, . , , , , ,, ' . ., . f the Army, 

strictest control over the civil service, and put a 

stop to all dishonesty and illegal exactions. Louvois turned 

his attention to improvement of the artillery, to the clothing 



586 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. i66i to 

and arming of the troops, and to military discipline. The 
army formed by him, which was always ready for action, was 
commanded by great generals — Turenne, who was specially 
admired by Napoleon, Concle, Oatinat, Luxembourg, Villars, and 
Vendome, while the authority of Vauban in matters of fortifica- 
tion continued supreme until the conditions of warfare were 
entirely altered in modern times. 

As already indicated, the high intelligence of the monarch 
aimed at excellence in every department, and he gave a powerful 
stimulus to all forms of intellectual activity. The age of Louis 
XIV. in France is worthy to stand by the side of the age of 
Pericles in Greece and of Augustus in Italy. He supplemented 
the French Academy, the council of the im- 
A ade^v* 3 mortal forty, who are still at the summit of intel- 
lectual distinction in all countries, by founding the 
Academies of Inscriptions and of Sciences. No other French 
monarch except Napoleon has shown so much interest in the 
affairs of the mind and in the men who illustrate intellectual 
and scientific progress. Nor did he confine himself to his own 
countrymen : he drew foreigners to his court by wise and 
magnanimous generosity. Whatever may have been the faults 
of the royal extravagance, his methods were certainly imitated 
throughout the civilised world. Every little prince had his 
Versailles, and it is unjust to condemn a system which was 
especially adapted to the age. 

One of the first acts of Louis after the assumption of inde- 
pendent power was to deprive the pope of Avignon, but only 
for a time, and to assert his diplomatic precedence over his 
father-in-law; Philip IV. of Spain, but he also desired to 
extend the frontiers of France by the acquisition of the Spanish 
Netherlands. At the time of his marriage he had finally 
renounced all right of succession to any portion of the Spanish 
dominions, but on the death of Philip IV. he asserted the 
principle of inheritance by "devolution," by which the heirs of 
a daughter by a first marriage took precedence of the off- 
spring of a second marriage, and in 1667 took 
De olut'o place the War of Devolution, which was really 
stimulated by the weakness and incapacity of 
Charles II. of Spain. It was little else than a war of plunder, 
like the Silesian war of Frederick the Great. Louis' generals, 
Turenne and Concle, conquered a large portion of Flanders 
and Hainault, and occupied Franche Comtek, but a Triple 
Alliance between England, Holland, and Sweden, formed by 



a.d. 1681] LOUIS XIV. 587 

the statesmanlike genius of John de Witt, grand pensionary 
of Holland, obliged him to make the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 
in 1668, which deprived him of a large portion of his gains, 
but left him in possession of Lille, Charleroi, Oudenarde, and 
some other Belgian towns. 

Louis was not likely to forget the injury done to him by de 
Witt, and he made preparations for a war with Holland which 
began in 1672 and lasted till 1679, after it had Louismakes 
included nearly the whole of Europe in its War on 
embrace. He had broken up the Triple Alliance Holland, 
by procuring the neutrality of Sweden and England. He 
conquered Guelders, Utrecht, and Overyssel without resistance. 
The prince of Orange, statholder of Holland, grandson of 
Charles I., was a young man of genius, who saved his country 
by cutting the dykes and flooding it by the incursion of the 
sea, while the skill of Admiral de Ruyter also prevented the 
English from landing in Texel. Luxembourg undertook a 
bold march against Amsterdam over the frozen flood, but the 
success of his enterprise was prevented by a sudden thaw. 

The prince of Orange was now assisted by his uncle, the 
Elector of Brandenburg, generally known as the Great Elector, 
and by the Emperor Leopold I., Orange threaten- 
ing Conde on the French frontier, the imperial zr e Great 
troops holding their own against Turenne on the 
Rhine. Frederick William of Brandenburg was one of the 
first statesmen in Europe. He had shown his talent in bringing 
his country back to a state of prosperity after the disorder 
caused by the Thirty Years' War. He did this by an excellent 
system of police, and by a well ordered arrangement of finance. 
He also provided himself with a powerful standing army, 
always ready for action. By the treaty of Welau, concluded 
by Poland in 1657, he became sovereign duke of Preussen, a 
territory in the north-east, which has given its name to Prussia. 
On the death of the Emperor Ferdinand III. he competed with 
Louis XIV. for the possession of the imperial crown, and, not 
being able to gain it himself, supported the claims of Leopold I. 
against the king of France. But he was neither old enough 
nor strong enough to prevent Louis XIV. from forming the 
League of the Rhine, which, under colour of maintaining 
the conditions of the peace of Westphalia, was really used 
for the extension of the eastern frontier of France at the 
expense of Germany. But when Louis was able, by his huge 
resources, to conquer Maestricht and to lay waste the western 



588 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1661-1681 

frontier with the armies of Turenne, and the emperor could 
not act seriously on the Rhine, the elector was compelled in 
1673 to make a separate peace with France at Vossem, and 
to promise to remain neutral for the future. 

The war continued : Louis fortified Nancy and occupied the 
imperial towns in Alsace. Turenne gained possession of Trier, 
The Cleve, and other places, and by order of Louvois 

Palatinate devastated the fruitful Palatinate with fire and 
Ravaged. sword so as to convert it into a desert. The 
Elector Palatine, seeing the ruining of his country from his 
castle at Heidelberg, challenged Turenne to single combat. 
But, stirred by the outrage, the emperor strengthened his 
Coalition army on the Rhine, commanded by Montecuculi, 
against the empire declared war against France, and 

France. even Spain took the side of the prince of Orange. 

Fortune now favoured the Dutch. Turenne was repulsed from 
Borne by Montecuculi, Conde was driven back from the frontiers 
of Holland, and England was compelled to make peace at West- 
minster by the energy of Ruyter and Tromp. Louis, supported 
only by Sweden and Savoy, was compelled to remain on the 
defensive, notwithstanding his conquest of Franche Comte. 
But disaster only stirred him to greater efforts. Collecting a 
larger army, he sent Turenne again across the Rhine, and the 
Palatinate was again devastated with barbaric cruelties. But 
the Great Elector was aroused to action by these enormities. 
Joining the imperial army, he forced Turenne back across the 
German river, so that Louis was compelled to urge the Swedes 
to advance from Pomerania and march into Brandenburg, so 
as to recall the elector to the defence of his own territories. 
This led to the world-famous battle of Fehrbellin, 
Feb beUin fought on June 18, 1675, just a hundred and forty 
years before the battle of Waterloo, in which the 
elector, with the help of Derflinger, completely defeated the 
Swedes and laid the foundations of the greatness of Prussia. 
Three weeks later, Turenne was killed by a chance shot at 
Sassbach, on July 7, 1675, and the French were compelled to 
recross the Rhine, avenging themselves by cruel devastations. 
William of Orange held his own with honour in the Nether- 
lands, but was worsted by Conde at Seneff in 1674. Ruyter 
was killed at Agosta in 1676, and the Spanish-Dutch fleet was 
burnt by French fireships in the harbour of Palermo. But, as 
England was preparing to exchange its neutral attitude into an 
offensive attitude, Louis thought it better to make peace, and 



a.d. 1664-1699] AUSTRIA AND THE TURKS 589 

the treaty of Nymwegen was signed in 1678, by which Holland 
maintained her former position, but Spain lost Franche Comte 
and a number of barrier fortresses. The empire, 
which came into the arrangement in February Nvrnweeeii 
1679, was obliged to surrender Freiburg and 
Hiiningen, the French retaining the right of keeping a garrison 
in Philippsburg. Brandenburg and Denmark had to continue 
the war against France and Sweden by themselves, and the 
elector refused to give up Pomerania, which he had conquered. 
But when he was defeated by the French at Minclen, suffered 
the invasion of his territories, and was deserted by the emperor, 
he was forced to conclude with Sweden the treaty of St. Germain- 
en-Laye in 1679, while Denmark made peace with France at 
Fontainebleau. The treaty of Nymwegen was a fresh starting- 
place for the ambition of Louis XIV. He established what 
were called " Chambers of reunion " in Metz, Breisach, Tournai, 
and Besancon, and claimed the possession of places which had 
been previously subject to the territories ceded to France by the 
treaty of Westphalia : so the empire lost not only the lands it 
then resigned, but everything which had before belonged to 
them, and Louis not only claimed them, but occupied them 
with his troops. In this manner he took possession not only 
of Lorraine, which was already in his power, but of the duchy 
of Luxemburg, the palatinate of Deux Ponts — called in German 
Zweibriicken — as well as Saarbruck, Veldenz, Spanheim, Mom- 
pelgard, and ten other imperial towns in Alsace, the despoiled 
princes making vain protestations. Worst of all, 
on September 30, 1681, he took treacherous posses- st 12U v>u° 
sion of Strasburg in a time of peace. He marched a 
number of French regiments up to its walls, and Louvois, at the 
head of 20,000 men, besides artillery, demanded its surrender. 
Members of the town council had previously been gained over 
by bribery, and the city which had been the principal bulwark 
against French aggression on the Rhine frontier was compelled 
to yield itself until it was recovered in the war of 1870. 



AUSTEIA AND THE TURKS A.D. 1664-1699. 
The emperor was prevented from resisting these violent pro- 
ceedings by the danger with which Vienna was threatened by 
the Turks. In 1683 the capital of Austria was besieged by an 
army of 280,000 Turks led by Kara Mustapha, who had marched 
through Hungary into Germany. The Turkish empire, which 



59° A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1664-1699 

had fixed its capital at Constantinople in 1453, was raised to 
great power by Suleiman II., who reigned from 1520 to 1566, 
whose empire extended from the Adriatic and Algiers to the 
other side of the Tigris, from the Carpathians, the Dniester, 
and the mouth of the Danube to southern Egypt and Arabia, 
and who had organised this motley mass of nationalities into a 
well-governed whole. After his death the power of the Turks 
declined, from the corruption of the seraglio life and the increasing 
influence of the Janissaries, a Christian bodyguard, who formed 
an independent body and dominated the government. Their sea 
power had been destroyed by Don John of Austria at the battle of 
Lepanto in 1571, and they had lost many fortresses in Hungary. 
It must be admitted with shame that Louis XIV. had en- 
couraged the attacks of the Turks against the house of Haps- 
Battle burg, but the defeat of the Turks by Montecuculi 

of St. at St. Gotthard on the Raab in 1664 was followed 

Gotthard. by a truce of twenty years. But when the 
Emperor Leopold I., under the influence of his minister Lobkowitz, 
endeavoured to destroy the ancient liberties of Hungary, un- 
. frocked 250 Protestant preachers, and sent them 
Hungary as s ^ aves to the Neapolitan galleys, Count Tbkoly 
raised the banner of insurrection, was supported 
by the French king, and, to defend himself against Austria, 
proceeded to place Hungary under the protection of the 
sultan, Mohammed IV., who marched upon Vienna and com- 
pelled the emperor to take refuge in Linz, and to make peace 
with France. Vienna appeared to be lost ; the inhabitants de- 
Siege and serted the houses ; and only 7000 citizens, assisted 
Relief of by 6000 mercenaries, remained to defend the 
Vienna. town. The garrison was commanded by Rudolf 

of Stahremberg, but he was unable to withstand the weight of 
the Moslem onslaught, when unexpectedly John Sobieski, the 
heroic king of Poland, came to the rescue, and, with the help of 
Max Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, and George III. of Saxony, 
set the bulwark of Christianity free from the assault of the 
unbelievers. In the following year, Kara Mustapha, as a 
punishment for his defeat, was put to death by the sultan. 

The war with the Turks continued for sixteen years longer, 
until it was put an end to for a time by the peace of Carlowitz 

„ , . , in 1699. During this war, Ofen, now called 

Turkish -r-* . . 

Reverses Buda, on the opposite side of the Danube to 

Pesth, which had been for 145 years in the pos- 
session of the Turks, was captured by the elector of Bavaria in 



a.d. 1682-1697] LOUIS XIV. 591 

1686, and the battle of Mohacs, won by Charles of Lorraine in 

1687, set the greater part of Hungary and Transylvania free 
from the Turkish yoke, although this was not regarded by the 
Hungarians as an unmixed benefit, because it led to a reign of 
terror against the Protestants, which culminated in the blood- 
stained tribunal of Eperies. Mohammed IV. was succeeded by 
Suleiman III., whose offers of peace were rejected. The peace 
of Carlowitz, of which we have already spoken, 

was eventually brought about by the glorious n e& ] Q °K 
victory of Prince Eugene of Savoy at Zenta, in 
1697, and by it Transylvania and Slavonia came to Austria, 
and the Morea and Dalmatia to Venice, while Poland recovered 
the Ukraines and Podolia. 



LOUIS XIV. (continued), A.D. 1682-1697. 

Louis XIV., now at the height of his power, determined 
to establish a unity of creed in his dominions, and for this 
purpose persecuted not only the Protestants, 

T aiiic n«J 

but all who did not agree with his religious views. . , „, . 

In 1682, a national council was held, presided 

over by the eloquent preacher Bossuet, in which four articles 

were passed, which established the independence of the French 

church, but placed it entirely under the control of the sovereign. 

Pope Innocent XI. did his best to oppose this step, but he 

was bought off by the promise of Louis to put down the 

Jansenists and the Huguenots. The Jansenists 

owed their name and origin to Cornelius Jansen, ; 

, „ <• , 1 1 , t • tt Jansenists. 

who was professor of theology at Louvam. He 

defended the Augustinian doctrine of predestination against 

the semi-pelagianism of the French church. The Jansenists 

were given up by the pope to the vengeance of the Jesuits, 

although their pure and saintly life and their profound learning 

offered the best hope for the regeneration of the religion of 

the country. Their most distinguished teacher was Blaise 

Pascal, who occupieda foremost place as theologian, 

philosopher, and mathematician ; his Provincial ■ Fascal - 

Letters exhibit a model of grave and temperate theological 

controversy, while his Pensees are justly regarded as one 

of the foremost manuals of religious thought of any age or 

country. But the Jansenists were equally well known by the 

establishment of their school at Port Royal, a monastery not 



592 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1682-1697 

far from Paris, which, although it lasted but a few years and 
educated but a handful of pupils, remains as a high-water mark 
of intellectual and moral education. So long as 
^ Louis was disputing with the pope, he favoured the 
Jansenists, but from the year 1660 he began to oppress them. 
The royal letter of 1673, declaring the crown to be the protector 
of all French churches, was resisted by the Jansenists, which 
led to their dissolution and the destruction of Port Royal. 

Louis was driven to the persecution of the Protestants by 
the influence of his confessor, Pere la Chaise, of Madame de 
Persecution Maintenon, with whom he had concluded a 
of the Pro- morganatic marriage, and of Louvois, who thought 
testants. it both a duty and a pleasure to put down the 
Huguenots. His persecutions gradually became more severe. 
Beo-innins; with the exile of their clerffv and the closing of their 
churches and schools, he proceeded to take away their children 
to be educated in the Catholic faith, and to deprive them of the 
right of possessing property, and of equal justice in the law 
courts, and ended by riding them down in the Cevennes by 
military raids called dragonnacles, and quartering soldiers upon 
them to force them to accept conversion. The Protestants 
sought safety in emigration, and Louis, being given to under- 
stand that his measures had been successful, and that only a 
Edict of ^ ew Protestants were left, in 1685 revoked the 

Nantes Edict of Nantes, by which Henry IV. had granted 

Revoked. freedom of religious worship, and drove 700,000 
men out of the country, among them the most able and indus- 
trious which the kingdom possessed. What was a loss to 
France was a gain to other countries, but the persecution went 
on, and continued even to the early years of the next century, 
when the descendants of the Walclenses, under the name of 
Camisards, led by Cavalier, withstood the French monarchy, 
until its power to persecute waned with its decline. 

The ambitious self-assertion of Louis XIV. led to an alli- 
ance for its repression between Brandenburg, Sweden, and the 
Netherlands, and to the League of Augsburg, 
Th^d W formed for the defence of the empire between 
the emperor, Bavaria, and Spain, which was 
afterwards joined by Saxony and Savoy. This produced a third 
war, begun by Louvois, in which, without any formal declara- 
tion of war, the ecclesiastical principalities of Cologne and 
Trier were forcibly occupied, Franconia and Swabia invaded, 
and the unhappy Palatinate exposed to another devastation, 



a.d. 1660-881 ENGLAND 593 

more severe than those which had preceded it, which has 
stamped those who conceived and executed it with undying 
infamy. Melac, who carried out this monstrous proceeding, 
destroyed twelve hundred towns and villages, amongst them 
Heidelberg, Mannheim, Worms, and Spires. Mainz was occu- 
pied by a French garrison. The war was marked by the 
victories of the French at Fleurus in 1690 and Steinkerken in 
1691, and by the defeat of the French fleet by England at the 
battle of La Hogue. Louis had now not only to suffer the 
effects of exhaustion in his own country, but to contend against 
Spain in the Pyrenees and against Savoy in the Alps, and 
began to think about reducing the number of his enemies 
by the conclusion of a separate peace with each. Luxembourg 
defeated William III., who was accustomed to defeat, at 
Neerwinden in 1693, and Catinat routed the armies of the duke 
of Savoy in 1696, which led to the signing of a separate peace 
with him at Turin. At length the peace of 
Byswyk was signed in 1697, by which France t?v Ir 
retained Franche Comte, Alsace, and Strasburg, 
but surrendered its other conquests, giving Lorraine back to 
its duke, Deux Ponts to Sweden, Mompelgard to Wiu-temberg, 
Freiburg, Breisach, and Kehl to the empire, and which re- 
cognised William III. as the lawful king of England, thus 
deserting the cause of the Stuarts. A clause in the treaty of 
Byswyk gave great trouble afterwards, which provided that the 
Catholic religion should remain side by side with the Protestant 
in those places into which it had been fairly introduced by the 
French. This was found to be the case in 1492 places, the 
majority of which were in the Palatinate. The height of the 
power of Louis XIY. was marked by the treaty of Kymwegen : 
the treaty of Byswyk marks its decline. The resources of France 
could no longer suffice for the strain placed upon it. Louis lost 
his prestige, and found himself surrounded by a new society with 
new ideas and aspirations. But he could not bend his spirit to 
meet the new circumstances which had arisen, and his character 
showed itself more admirable in adversity than it had been in 
prosperity. 

ENGLAND, A.D. 1660-1688. 

We must now return to the affairs of England. Although 
the court of Charles II. was stained by vice and dissipation, 
it must not be supposed that he had no serious ends in govern- 

2? 



594 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1660 to 

ment. He determined to keep his throne at all hazards, and 
not to suffer the fate of his father. He also could not help 
being influenced by the current of the time, 
Charles II which set towards the establishment of a despotic 
monarchy. He desired to make England a Catholic 
country, and with this object he tried to win over the Non- 
conformists by the Declaration of Indulgence, but he also tried 
to make England the greatest commercial nation in the world, 
and therefore did his best to destroy her most powerful rival, 
the Dutch republic. Being, by birth and education, half a 
Frenchman, he naturally adhered closely to the French alliance, 
but in this he was forced to be subordinate to the powerful 
monarch who then controlled France, and there is little doubt 
that, but for the Revolution of 1688, England would have 
become a dependency of that country. 

The reign of Charles II. lasted for twenty -five years (1660- 
1685), and may be divided into five sections. The first of these 
comprises the ministry of Clarendon (1660-1667), the second 
the Cabal ministry and the Catholic plot (1667-1673), the third 
the ministry of Danby (1673-1679) , the fourth the Exclusion 
Bill struggle (1679-1681), and the last, the Tory reaction and 
the dependence on France. During Clarendon's ministry, 
Charles married Catherine of Portugal, thus making a close 
alliance with a Catholic country and paving the way for the 
establishment of Catholicism ; he also made an alliance with 
France against Spain, assisting the downfall of Spain and the 
aggrandisement of France. Anglicanism was established in 
Thg England by a series of laws known as the Claren- 

Clarendon don Code, comprising the Corporation Act, compel- 
Code. ling a ll members of corporations to receive Holy 

Communion at least once a year, according to the rite of the 
church of England ; the Act of Uniformity, which made the use 
of the revised Prayer Book compulsory upon all clergymen, and 
compelled all clergymen, university teachers, schoolmasters, 
and tutors to take the oath prescribed by the Corporation Act ; 
the Conventicle Act, which forbade all meetings for worship 
excepting those of the established church ; and the Five Mile 
Act, which forbade all Nonconformist ministers to teach or to 
live within five miles of a corporate town unless they would 
make certain declarations. 

In 1665, Charles went to war with the Dutch, ungratefully, 
because they had at first supported him in his exile. The 
principal cause was rivalry in trade, but Holland was, at this 



ENGLAND 595 

time, divided into two parties — the party of Orange, now 
represented by Charles the Second's nephew, William III., and 
the party of the rich merchants, headed by de Witt. It was always 
the policy of England to support the Orange party 
and of France to oppose it. The war was marked ^j. u c 
by the battle of Lowestoft on June 3, 1665, 
in which the Dutch, under Tromp, were defeated, the battle 
of the Downs, in which Euyter and Tromp fought without 
definite result against Monk, and a battle off the coast of 
Norfolk on August 4, in which Ruyter was defeated by Monk. 
In 1666, Louis XIV., in accordance with hereditary policy, 
assisted the Dutch and declared war against England. In 
these two years, 1665 to 1666, occurred the Great Plague 
and the Great Fire of London, which will ever be remark- 
able in English history. Charles, in deep distress, made a 
secret treaty with Louis, in which Louis promised to desert his 
allies in return for the engagement that Charles would not 
interfere with the designs of Louis against the Spanish Nether- 
lands. England received a final blow by the Dutch sailing 
up the Medway and destroying the English shipping, mark- 
ing the lowest degradation of the reign. The war was ended 
by the peace of Breda, signed in July. It con- 
sisted of two parts. By a treaty with Holland, £reda° 
both parties kept their conquests, England re- 
taining New York and Holland Surinam : also the Navigation 
Act was relaxed, and Dutch vessels were allowed to carry 
Dutch, German, and Flemish goods into English ports. By 
a separate treaty England and France made a few territorial 
adjustments. The most important result of the peace was 
that it enabled Louis to make war upon Spain, and to do 
what he liked with the Spanish Netherlands. Clarendon was 
now driven from office, and exiled on the charge of malversation, 
but his real enemies were the king, who disliked his strictness 
in morals and religion, and the Nonconformists, who bitterly 
resented the Clarendon Code. The nation was also angry with 
him because of the loss of Dunkirk, and the insult inflicted in 
the Medway. He never returned, and died in exile at Rouen. 

The government of Clarendon was succeeded by that of the 
Cabal, a title taken from the initials of the five members 
who composed it, Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, 
Ashley, and Lauderdale. It left a disastrous 
name in English history. It was not a cabinet, because it 
did not act together, and the king was accustomed to consult 



596 A GENERAL HISTORY [a. d. i 660 to 

different members of it at different times. During the six 
years of its power, its most prominent actions were the Triple 
Alliance, the treaty of Dover, and the second Dutch war. The 
Triple Alliance between England, Holland, and Sweden was 
the work of Sir William Temple and de Witt. It was directed 
against the overweening power of France, and the result was 
the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, between France and Spain, by 
which Louis gained a strong northern frontier, at the expense 
of the Spanish Netherlands. In January 1669, Charles declared 
to Clifford and other leading Catholics that he was himself a 
Catholic, and discussed with them the best means of restoring 

England to that religion. A second treaty be- 
Treaty of tween Louis and Charles was signed at Dover 

on June 1, 1670, with the assistance of Henrietta, 
duchess of Orleans, the daughter of Charles I. It was ar- 
ranged that Charles was to desert the Triple Alliance and 
to assist Louis against the Dutch, receiving ■£ 150,000 at once 
and £225,000 a year so long as the war continued, and at 
the close of the war England was to acquire Walcheren, Sluys, 
and Cadsand. It was also promised that Charles should de- 
clare himself a Catholic as soon as circumstances should admit 
of it. War, however, was not declared against Holland till 
1672, and then on a frivolous pretence. But, before the war 
began, a second Declaration of Indulgence was issued by the 
king, which reversed the policy of Clarendon and suspended 
laws against Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. Charles 
cared nothing about the Nonconformists, but he could not 
assist the Roman Catholics without helping them. In the 

second Dutch war, the Dutch defeated the 
DutchWar French ancl English fleets in Southwolcl Bay, 

but they were hampered by the French invasion 
of their country, which we have already narrated, and they 
cut their dykes to defend themselves. De Witt was murdered 
as being favourable to the French, and William of Orange 
was formally recognised as statholder. Parliament was en- 
tirely opposed to the new policy of the king. It forced him 

to recall the Declaration of Indulgence and to 
The Test p agg a rp es) . ^ c ^ wn i cn compelled all who held 

office under the crown to receive Holy Com- 
munion according to the Anglican rite, and to make a de- 
claration against tran substantiation. The result of this was 
that James, duke of York, the king's brother, had to resign 
his post of admiral and Clifford his post of treasurer. 



a.d. 1688] ENGLAND 597 

In 1673 the earl of Danby was made treasurer in place 
of Clifford, and Prince Rupert of the Palatinate, who was known 
to be a staunch Protestant, succeeded the duke of 
York as high admiral. Charles succeeded in dis- j3 n . J. s 
missing Shaftesbury, who had supported the Test 
Act, and became henceforward a determined enemy of the Roman 
Catholic policy of the king. Another battle with the Dutch off 
the Texel was by no means favourable to the English, and in 
1674 Parliament made an attack upon the remaining members 
of the Cabal, Lauderdale, Buckingham, and Arlington. The 
Dutch war now came to an end by the treaty of 
London, by which Holland agreed to recognise f/^d 
the supremacy of England upon the seas north of 
Cape Finisterre, paid 800,000 crowns, and gave to England her 
conquests outside Europe, while Charles promised not to assist 
the enemies of the Dutch. In the following year, 1675, Danby 
introduced into the upper house what is known as the Non- 
Resistance Test Bill, by which all members of either house of 
Parliament were to be obliged to take an oath to attempt no 
alteration either in church or state. The bill was meant to 
exclude Roman Catholics from the House of Lords and Presby- 
terians from the House of Commons, but it created a great out- 
burst of public feeling, and never reached the lower house. In 
this and in the four following years secret treaties were made 
between Charles and Louis XlY., which practically gave Louis 
control of the foreign policy of England in return for subsidies 
of which the king stood in need ; but in 1677 William of Orange 
married Mary, daughter of the duke of York, which was popular 
in England, and put an end to any feeling of hostility between 
England and Holland. In 1678 the peace of Nymwegen was 
signed, which forms the high-water mark of the power of the 
French king, but Louis, enraged with the marriage between 
William of Orange and Mary, revealed to the Commons the secret 
treaty countersigned by Danby, who was thereupon impeached. 

The third Parliament of Charles II. met in 1679. The im- 
peachment of Danby was continued, which fixed the doctrine of 
ministerial responsibility, and an Exclusion Bill was brought 
forward by the earl of Shaftesbury to prevent the -phe 
succession of the duke of York, who was a Roman Exclusion 
Catholic, to the throne. Parliament was pro- Bill, 
rogued, and then dissolved to prevent the passing of the Ex- 
clusion Bill, and a fourth Parliament was elected, but pro- 
rogued before it met. The year 1679 is, however, remarkable 



598 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. i860 to 

for the passing of the Habeas Corpus Act, considered as the 
palladium of the constitution, by which arrested persons must 
be brought to speedy trial and not kept in prison by the crown 
in an arbitrary manner, and in 1680 the names of Whig and 
Tory came into existence for the first time. When the king 
would not allow his fourth Parliament to meet, Shaftesbury 
arranged for petitions to the king calling for its meeting, while 
his opponents addressed the sovereign, expressing their abhor- 
rence that the king should be forced to summon Parliament 
against his will. The two parties were called Petitioners and 
Abhorrers, but, these names being inconvenient, 
Tories ^ ^ ie Abhorrers were called Tories, a condensation 
of the word Abhorrers, taken from the appellation 
of the wild Irish, and the Petitioners were called Whigs, a 
corruption of Whigamore, a name given to the Scotch Cove- 
nanters. Parliament met, and the Exclusion Bill was passed 
in the Commons, but rejected in the upper house by the 
influence of Halifax. In 1681 the fifth Parliament met at 
Oxford. The Whigs were so alarmed at the violence of their 
opponents that they went to the house armed, and there 
seemed to be a danger of civil war. The Exclusion Bill was 
again introduced, but, before it could be passed, Parliament was 
dissolved. 

The last four years of Charles's reign formed a period of 
reaction. Shaftesbury, impeached for high treason, was 
Last Years acquitted, but had to retire to Holland, dying 
of Charles there in 1683. The country was, however, by no 
II- means at rest. In 1683, the Rye House Plot was 

formed for the murder of Charles II. and the duke of York on 
their return from Newmarket. The leaders of the Whigs were 
tried for their supposed share in this conspiracy, and Lord 
William Russell was beheaded in Lincoln's Inn Fields on 
July 21, while Algernon Sidney suffered the same fate on 
December 8. But Parliament was never summoned. On Feb- 
ruary 16, 1685, Charles II. died at the age of fifty -five, sur- 
rounded by all his children except his favourite son, the duke of 
Monmouth. With characteristic geniality and indifference, he 
apologised for being so long in dying, and when the queen, who 
was too ill to attend, asked for his forgiveness, he replied, 
" Poor woman, she asks for my forgiveness ; I ask for hers with 
all my heart." He was not a great king or a good sovereign, but 
his picturesque and original character has secured him a soft 
place in the hearts of Englishmen. 



a.d. 1688] ENGLAND 599 

The reign of James II. lasted for only three years, from 
1685 to 1688. He began by levying taxes without the authority 
of Parliament. When Parliament met, it granted 
the king a revenue of =£1,900,000, but refused 
to repeal the Test Act. His accession was marked by the 
insurrections of Argyle in Scotland and Monmouth in the 
west of England. Both were crushed and punished by death. 
Monmouth was defeated at the battle of Sedgemoor, and James 
sternly refused to pardon his nephew, who crawled 
before him for pardon. The west was pacified by R ^'fy s 
the efforts of sanguinary soldiers, called " Kirke's 
Lambs," and by the " Bloody Assize," held there by Judge 
Jeffries. The power of James was rather strengthened than 
weakened by these futile efforts to overthrow it. But any 
advantage accruing to his religion was destroyed by Louis 
XIV.'s revoking the Edict of Nantes, which drove the Protes- 
tants out of France, and caused alarm throughout Protestant 
Europe. James, however, persisted in violating the Test Act 
by the appointment of Roman Catholics, and, when Halifax 
and Parliament protested, the one was dismissed from office 
and the other was prorogued. The judges now decided that 
the king had the power of dispensing with the laws, and, 
acting on this decision, James appointed an ecclesiastical com- 
mission with the object of Romanising the church and the 
universities. A camp was established at Hounslow to over- 
awe the city of London, and Massey, a Roman Catholic, was 
made dean of Christchurch, Oxford. In 1687, the king pro- 
mulgated a Declaration of Indulgence, suspending ^g j) e . 
all laws against both Roman Catholics and claration of 
Dissenters. He took the illegal step of nominat- Indulgence, 
ing a Roman Catholic as president of Magdalen College, Oxford, 
and expelled the fellows for refusing to elect his second nominee. 
Parliament was now dissolved. In 1688, a new edition of the 
Declaration of Indulgence, especially favourable to Dissenters, 
was ordered to be read in churches, but seven bishops petitioned 
against it, whose names should be held in honour. 
They were Bancroft of Canterbury, Ken of Bath JJ^oT* 11 
and Wells, White of Peterborough, Lloyd of St. 
Asaph, Trelawney of Bristol, Lake of Chichester, and Turner 
of Ely. The bishops were tried and acquitted amidst national 
rejoicings. It became evident that further toleration of his 
rule was impossible, and an invitation was sent to the prince 
of Orange to assume the government, and was signed by a 



6oo A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1660-1688 

number of leading noblemen, including Devonshire, Shrewsbury, 
and Danby. William accepted it with little hesitation. On 
November 5, he landed at Torbay, and on December 23 James 
The f- e( l fi'om Whitehall, and after some difficulty 

Revolution reached the court of Louis XIV. It was hard 
of 1688. to legalise what had been done. A Convention 

Parliament was summoned, which declared that the throne 
was vacant for two reasons, — one that James had violated the 
original contract between king and people and the fundamental 
laws of the kingdom, — the other, that, by his flight from the 
kingdom, he had abdicated the crown. The crown was offered 
to William and Mary, the daughter of James, as joint sovereigns, 
with the condition that they accepted a document called the 
Declaration of Rights. This declaration of the " true, ancient, 
and indubitable rights of the people of this realm " was after- 
wards passed as a Bill of Rights in William's first Parliament. 

Thus fell James II., and with him the house of Stuart. 

He had acquired a reputation for courage and ability in his 

office as high admiral, but he was stern, unbend- 

of James 1 ]! * n §' anc ^ C1 ' ue ^- He came to the throne at the 
time of a Royalist reaction, and he could have 
kept it if he could have been wise. But he overrated, like 
Charles X. of France, the strength of this sentiment, and 
he underrated the devotion of English people to Protestantism 
and the law. Nor did he care to seek for popular support ; 
he was a thorough Stuart in his conception of the royal 
prerogative. He had done much for the army, as he had for 
the fleet, but he had offended it by the appointment of Roman 
Catholic officers and by bringing over Irish soldiers. So, when 
the church led the revolt against him, he could not depend on 
the army, and had to submit to the invader. Charles I. was 
the best of the Stuart kings, but, whatever may have been his 
personal merits, it is certain that the ideas of government 
which were ingrained in the minds of his race would have 
been impossible to reconcile with the liberties of England, and 
the character and lives of the later Stuarts give us great cause 
to be thankful that they did not remain longer on the throne. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, A.D. 1688-1714— 
ENGLAND, A.D. 1689-1714. 

After the peace of Ryswyk, Louis XIV. was involved in new 
complications by the war of the Spanish Succession. Spain, 
with all her enormous possessions in the old and the new world, 
was to fall into the hands of a new dynasty by 
the extinction of the Hapsburg line in the person . st>ain 
of Charles II. He was weak in mind and body, 
and had no children, and the break up of the mighty monarchy, 
which could not long be delayed, caused great excitement 
throughout the world. Should it be partitioned — and, if so, 
in what manner ? — should it remain in its entirety, and, if so, to 
whose lot should it fall? The question of legal succession was 
very complicated. The persons mainly to be considered were 
three in number — Louis XIV., who had married Maria 
Theresa, the elder sister of Charles II., but at his marriage 
had renounced all claim to the Spanish inheritance ; the Emperor 
Leopold I., who had married Margaret Theresa, the younger 
sister of Charles II., but had made no such renunciation, and 
was, moreover, the son of another Spanish princess ; and Joseph 
Ferdinand, the son of Max Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, and 
grandson of Margaret Theresa and Leopold. Attempts were made 
to anticipate the danger, and a treaty of partition 
was made which selected Joseph, who did not be- 7* partition 
long to one of the great houses of Europe. How- 
ever, in 1699, the poor child died of smallpox at Brussels, probably 
the victim of injudicious medical treatment, and the confusion 
was worse confounded. William III. and Louis XIV. made a 
second partition treaty, by which the crown of Spain was to go to 
Leopold's son, the Archduke Charles, but France 
was to receive important Spanish possessions. q} ? IT 
Leopold, however, never recognised the treaty. 
The Spaniards, too, were naturally strongly opposed to partition, 
and Charles II. shared their views. He therefore made a will, 

6oi 



602 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1688 to 

leaving the whole of the Spanish monarchy to Philip of Anjou, 

grandson of Louis XIV., thinking that the French king would 

be more able to preserve the integrity of all the Spains than the 

emperor. Charles died on November 9, 1700, and Louis, well 

knowing that he would have to encounter a serious war, chose 

the post of honour, and determined to accept the inheritance. 

He sent the young man of eighteen across the 

pJ?5 BSi v n ° f Pyrenees, under the title of Philip V., with a 

French army to help him, and he was permitted 

by Max Emanuel, who was viceroy of the Netherlands, to 

occupy some barrier fortresses on the French frontier. 

It seemed at first as if this event would pass without notice, 
but William III. and Heinsius, grand pensionary of Holland, 
set themselves to stir up war against the sovereign 
jLiie trrana W O m they both detested, and succeeded in doing 
so, forming, with the assistance of Prussia and 
Hanover, the so-called Grand Alliance, which was afterwards 
joined by the empire, and by Portugal and Spain, which had 
in the beginning supported France. The war of the Spanish 
Succession, which lasted from 1701 to 1714, never need have 
taken place. It ended in the recognition of Philip V., after a 
large expenditure of blood and treasure, and the only results of 
it were the victories of Marlborough, and the addition of a 
name to the roll of distinguished Englishmen whose greatness 
was the cause of misery during his life, and has been disputed 
since his death. England would probably not have joined in 
the war had not Louis committed the chivalrous but unwise 
action of recognising the son of James II. as James III., king 
of England. War is almost universally in history the product 
of passion rather than of reason, and there are few wars which 
could not have been prevented, the war of the Spanish Succession 
being certainly not amongst them. 

The war began by Leopold's sending troops into Italy, and, the 

French having occupied the passes of the Alps, Prince Eugene 

Prince °f Savoy, one of the purest and most faultless 

Eugene heroes who appear in history, was sent to turn 

in Italy. them out. Crossing the mountains which lie to 

the east of the lake of Garda, making new roads across the Alps 

with incredible difficulty, he descended upon Verona, defeated 

Catinat at the battle of Carpi, and then beat Villeroi at Chiari, 

and took him prisoner at Cremona. But he was recalled to 

Vienna to make arrangements for prosecuting the war with 

vigour, and his conquests were recovered by Vendome. A 



a.d. 17141 WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION 603 

French army marched into Belgium, and, William III. dying 
suddenly in 1702, Louis hoped that the war might come to an end ; 
but it was continued by his successor, Anne, who 
was assisted by the mighty duke of Marlborough, w^v* 0f IT T 
one of the greatest generals the world has ever 
seen, the most successful of diplomatists, and the most magnani- 
mous of men. In this miserable struggle, which never should have 
taken place, three characters shine with commanding lustre, 
Marlborough, Louis XIV., and Eugene of Savoy. Yillars now 
crossed the Rhine, and joined his forces with those of the elector 
of Bavaria, who now declared himself in favour of France. To 
check this combination, Marlborough marched from the Nether- 
lands, and Eugene from Italy, to meet at Heilbronn on the 
Neckar. Their object was to detach the elector from the French 
alliance, but this was prevented by his receiving reinforcements 
from France, which crossed the Rhine under Tallard. On August 
13, 1704, was fought the battle of Blenheim, 
called in Germany Hb'chstadt, in which the French ^f^ ° f 
were entirely defeated. Marlborough displayed 
in this battle the special quality which distinguished him 
amongst all great generals, that of seeing with an eagle eye the 
crisis of the battle while it is still proceeding, and changing his 
plans to meet it. Observing that a gap was opening between 
the two bodies of the French, he gave up his plan of storming 
Blenheim, and drove a wedge between them, causing absolute 
destruction and taking Tallard prisoner, with the help of Eugene, 
who had been sent round to attack the French left flank. 
Numbers of French horsemen were drowned in the Danube, 
and Marlborough wrote to Queen Anne, " Mr. Tallard is in my 
coach." In the beginning of 1705, Joseph I. succeeded Leopold 
I. as emperor, and the Austrians occupied Bavaria. They were, 
however, hated by the inhabitants, and were attacked in the 
rear by the Hungarians under Rakocszy. 

The Archduke Charles, the other claimant to the throne of 
Spain, now landed in Portugal, supported by the English, and 
advanced into Spain. Gibraltar and Barcelona French 
were taken, the one by Rooke, the other by Reverses 
Peterborough. Catalonia, Navarre, Aragon, and ia Spain. 
Valencia declared for "Charles III.," so that Philip was forced 
to leave Madrid. Louis now made proposals for peace, which 
were refused, although Vendome had conquered nearly the 
whole of Savoy. Villeroi was therefore sent to the Netherlands, 
with orders to win a great battle, but to wait until he had 



604 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1688 to 

received reinforcements from the Rhine. Too impatient to 
delay, he suffered a severe defeat in 1706 in the battle of 
Ramillies, where Marlborough exhibited a similar 
Ramillies g en ius to that which had won him the great 
victory of Blenheim. Seeing the weak point of 
the enemy's defence, he attacked it with an overwhelming force, 
mainly of Dutch cavalry, scattered the French in all directions, 
and broke them in their retreat by an onslaught from the high 
ground in the north, where he had skilfully placed a large body 
of his men. The result surpassed even Marlborough's expecta- 
tions. Brabant, Flanders, and a portion of Hainault declared 
for Charles III. In the same year Eugene, supported by the 
Prussians under Leopold of Dessau, won the great 
Turin ° victory of Turin, and drove the French out of 

Lombardy. This led to an armistice, but in the 
following year Naples was occupied by the Austrian Field- 
marshal Daun. 

Events now became a little more favourable to the French. 
Philip received reinforcements from his grandfather, which 
enabled him to win the battle of Almanza and 
Almanza ^° wres ^ Aragon and Valencia from his rival. 

Villars also invaded Swabia and Franconia, and 
was repulsed with difficulty ; while in Flanders an army com- 
manded by the duke of Burgundy recovered Ghent and Bruges. 
But the face of things was changed when Marlborough and 
Eugene defeated Burgundy and Vendome at 
Oudenarde Oudenarde, the result of which was not only the 
recapture of Ghent and Bruges, but the conquest 
of Lille, the fortifications of which were a masterpiece of 
Vauban's art and had been declared impregnable. The fall 
of Lille seemed to open the door to a march on 
T° U ms° GrS I >ai 'i s - Louis made serious efforts for peace, but 
the English government was so determined upon 
his abasement that they insisted upon the condition that he 
should turn his arms against his own grandson, which, with 
proper dignity and self-respect, he magnanimously refused 
to do. The war went on, and its continuance is laid without 
the slightest foundation to the ambition of Marl- 
Battle of borough. His noble nature would have made any 
sacrifices for peace, if the politicians had allowed 
it. Villars fought the battle of Malplaquet, the bloodiest of 
the war, in which Marlborough and Eugene, with great diffi- 
culty, remained the conquerors. Louis was so humiliated that he 



a.d. 1714 WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION 605 

offered to restore Strasburg to Germany and to pay as subsidy 
a million francs a month towards the war against his grandson. 
This, however, the allies refused to accept. Even worse disasters 
happened. Philip was beaten in Spain in the battle of Saragossa, 
Charles entered Madrid in triumph on September 23, 1710, and 
Louis began to fear the dismemberment of France. 

Louis was saved from destruction by the fall of Marlborough, 
caused by the unwise conduct of his wife, who was devoted 
to him and to her sovereign Anne, but could -pall of 
not control her violent temper, and by the Marl- 
intrigues of Harley and St. John, the worst borough, 
ministers • who ever managed the affairs of England. They 
detested Marlborough, from whom they had received great 
benefits. St. John did not shrink from falsehood when it 
served his purpose: Harley actually preferred falsehood to 
truth. Marlborough was deprived of his command, and, as 
Joseph I. had died of measles in April 1711, and his brother 
Charles (who had been driven from Madrid, defeated by 
Yendome in the battle of Villaviciosa in December 1710, and 
possessed little in Spain beyond the city of Barcelona and 
the fortress of Montjuich) was elected emperor Charles VI. 
in December 1711, England and Holland deter- Elected 
mined to put an end to the war, which now Emperor, 
had no object. It was worse to place the emperor on the 
throne of Spain, and revive the empire of Charles V., than 
to leave it, despoiled of Italy and the Netherlands, to a scion 
of France. So peace was signed at Utrecht on April 11, 1711. 
Philip V. was recognised as king of Spain and the Indies, 
on the condition that the two crowns were never united. But 
the close connection between France and Spain continued, with 
few interruptions, to be an important factor in European diplo- 
macy, and the conduct of Napoleon towards Spain, which has 
been so much abused, was only a continuation of this policy : 
Napoleon had been summoned by the will of the French people 
to the throne of the Bourbons ; and it was only natiuul that 
a scion of his family should replace upon the throne of Spain 
a member of a hostile family which popular indignation had 
driven from France. 

The treaty of Utrecht has been abused by English historians 

on the ground that its terms were humiliating to 

■ j The Tresitv 
England. This charge cannot be substantiated, futrecht. 

but nothing could be more disgraceful to this 

country than the manner of its conclusion. It was negotiated 



606 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1688-1714 

secretly, chiefly with the assistance of Matthew Prior, by 
Hai'ley and St. John, without the knowledge of the Dutch, 
to whom they declared falsely that no negotiations were in 
progress. These two ministers knew that they had been guilty 
of treason, and their position depended entirely upon the friend- 
ship of Anne and the weakness of her character. If she died 
before peace was concluded, their fall was inevitable, and 
therefore Louis had them in his power. Louis was a consum- 
mate diplomatist, and as he knew that Anne was in miserable 
health, and that the English ministers were obliged to make 
peace to save their heads, he exacted terms which no honest 
or patriotic ministry would have accepted. Yet England 
obtained Gibraltar and Minorca, Newfoundland (without, how- 
ever, settling the question of the fisheries, which remained 
an open sore till our own day), Nova Scotia, also called 
Acadia, Hudson Bay, and the Assiento — i.e. the monopoly for 
thirty years, in the Spanish colonies, of the African slave-trade, 
which was not yet condemned by the conscience of Europe. 
Holland was allowed to garrison eight baiTier fortresses, a great 
humiliation for France. The duke of Savoy received Sicily with 
the title of king, and seven years afterwards exchanged it for 
Sardinia : he was also made heir to the crown of Spain, 
if the Bourbon dynasty came to an end, and his house has 
since, with its usual good fortune, acquired the more valuable 
crown of Italy. Prussia, surrendering the possession of Orange, 
acquired, besides some places in Guelders, the sovereignty of 
Neufchatel and Valengin, and the recognition of the royal 
title. The Protestant succession was secured to England, and, 
in consequence of this, after the death of Anne, which followed 
in the next year, the elector of Hanover, the great-grandson 
of James I., became king of England under the title of George 
I., and all attempts of the Stuarts to regain their rightful throne 
were successfully resisted. 

The new emperor, Charles VI., continued the war with 

France, but after being defeated at Denain, and having lost 

Landau and Freiburg, made, in 1714, the peace 

Radstadt °^ Ra-dstadt, by which he received the Spanish 
Netherlands, with the addition of Tournay, as 
well as Naples, Milan, Mantua, and Sardinia, the last to be 
exchanged a few years later for Sicily. The electors of Bavaria 
and Cologne were restored to their rank and their possessions. 
The peace was also extended to the empire, which was com- 
pelled to surrender Landau, but received Friburg, Old Breisach, 



a.d. 1689-1714] ENGLAND 607 

and Kehl. Louis XIV. died in 1715, a year after the con- 
clusion of this peace, having reigned for seventy-two years. 
He had borne his adversities with singular dignity 
and sweetness, hardly tried as he was by the j. -^f v 
numerous deaths in his family, including that of 
his son the dauphin, and his grandson the duke of Burgundy, so 
that his crown came to his great-grandson, a child of five years 
old, who ascended the throne as Louis XV., and whose weak 
health made the prospect of a war of the French succession for 
many years a dominating factor in European politics. Louis' 
death was received with joy by an ungrateful country, and his 
corpse had to be carried to St. Denis by cross roads, and did 
not even then escape the jeers and insults of the crowd. 



ENGLAND, A.D. 1689-1714. 

In these pages we have already narrated a considerable 
portion of the reigns of William III. and Anne, but some gaps 
remain to be filled up. William was aCalvinistic 
Protestant, and his wife Mary was an Anglican, 1 iam 
so that neither was a Roman Catholic or inclined to the 
Roman Catholic religion. William's characteristic virtues were 
patience, courage, and magnanimity, but he was cold, reserved, 
and a Dutchman, and he never became popular in England, 
nor did he understand or love the English character. His reign 
of thirteen years was divided into two sections, the first of 
which, lasting eight years, was occupied by the war of the Grand 
Alliance against Louis XIY., closed by the peace of Ryswyk, 
and the next five years by the preparation for the war of the 
Spanish Succession. His first ministers were Danby, afterwards 
marquis of Carmarthen, who was president of the council ; 
Halifax, a " Trimmer," who sat on the fence in politics, keeper 
of the privy seal ; Nottingham, a Tory, who was secretary of 
state ; Shrewsbury, who was a Whig. Besides these must be 
reckoned Godolphin, who was a lord of the treasury. William 
was his own foreign minister, and was in intimate communica- 
tion with Heinsius, grand pensionary of Holland. 

The first act of William's reign was to settle the position 
of the crown on a new basis, so as to avoid the disputes which 
had occasioned troubles during the rule of the Constitu- 
Stuarts. The revenue was fixed at £1,200,000 tional 
a year, to be increased in time of war ; a part of Changes, 
this, called the Civil List, was set apart for the support of the 



608 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1689 to 

royal household and the payment of civil officers and pensions. 
An Appropriation Act, passed every session, prevented public 
money from being used for any other purpose than that for 
which it was granted. All holders of offices in church and 
state were ordered to take an oath of allegiance to William 
and Mary ; those who refused, called 1ST on- Jurors, were chiefly 
clergymen, headed by Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury. 
By the Bill of Rights, as we shall see presently, a standing 
army was declared illegal ; but a Mutiny Act passed every year, 
legalising courts martial, recognised and provided for the 
discipline of such a force. A Toleration Act relieved persons 
who had taken the oaths of allegiance and supremacy from 
being fined for non-attendance at church, thus giving relief 
to Protestant Nonconformists but not to Roman Catholics. 
Besides this an act of Parliament was passed which turned 
into a statute the Declaration of Rights, accepted by William 
before he was allowed to receive the Crown, which is known as 
the Bill of Rights and is a corner-stone of the 

_. e .. 1 ° liberties of England. This important statute first 
recounted the illegal acts of James II. and asserted 
the vacancy of the throne owing to his abdication. It then 
declared the " true, ancient, and indubitable rights of the 
people of this realm." Certain things were declared illegal — 
the power of suspending laws without the consent of Parliament, 
the dispensing power as exercised by the two last kings, the 
court of Ecclesiastical Commission and other similar tribunals, 
the levying of money or the maintenance of a standing army 
in time of peace without the consent of Parliament. Besides 
this it was enacted that Protestant subjects might have arms, 
that elections of members of Parliament must be free, that ex- 
cessive fines and cruel punishment must not be imposed, that 
bail should be reasonable in amount, that jurors should be duly 
impanelled, that no estates could be forfeited except on the 
conviction of an offence, and that parliaments should be held 
frequently. Besides this, the settlement of the succession to 
the throne was determined, Papists being declared incapable of 
succeeding. A similar measure, entitled the Claim of Rights, 
was passed by the Scotch Parliament, and the Highlanders 
were disbanded after the death of their leader Dundee. 

James did not surrender his claim to Ireland, but landed at 
Kinsale, and held a Parliament in Dublin. He was, however, 
defeated at Newton Butler, and the siege of Londonderry, 
which he commenced, was raised by William's general, Kirke, 



a.d. 1714] ENGLAND 609 

on July 1, 1689. Next year James was entirely defeated by 

William in person at the battle of the Boyne, and fled to France. 

In England Parliamentwas dissolved, and, a second 

being elected with a Tory majority, an Act of ?li B 

Grace was passed pardoning all political offenders. 

In 1691 the pacification of Ireland was completed, Ginkel, a 

Dutchman, afterwards earl of Athlone, being William's principal 

general, and those of James being St. Ruth, Tyrconnel, and 

Sarsfield. This settlement was effected by the capitulation of 

Limerick, by which all Irish officers and soldiers 

who wished to leave Ireland were to be taken to Treaty of 

France in English ships. Ten thousand accepted 

this offer, and formed an Irish brigade under the king of 

France. Certain concessions were made to Irish Catholics by 

William, but in 1692 severe laws were passed by the Irish 

Parliament against them, and thus the treaty of Limerick was 

violated. 

The reign of William was marked by domestic measures of 
great importance — the establishment of a National Debt in 1693, 
and of the Bank of England in 1694; the third 
Triennial Act in 1694, making three years the Domestic 
maximum period for the duration as well as the 
omission of Parliament, whereas the second, act, in 1664, had 
affected only omission ; and the abolition of the censorship of 
the press in 1695. His second Parliament was dissolved in the 
same year, and a third was elected, in which the Whigs had a 
majority. This Parliament reformed the law of treason, enacting 
that two witnesses were necessary for indictment on any charge 
of this nature. The Protestant Association was formed for the 
protection of William's life and the maintenance of the Pro- 
testant succession, a new coinage was issued under the direction 
of Sir Isaac Newton ; and a penal Act was passed excluding 
Roman Catholics from the Irish Parliament. Queen Mary had 
died in 1694, leaving William sole sovereign, and in 1697 four 
treaties were signed at Ryswyk, one between France and England, 
one between France and Holland, and two more between France 
and Spain and France and Germany respectively. The war of 
the Grand Alliance came to an end, having secured England 
from the danger of invasion, and established her as the chief 
bulwark against French aggression. 

The war of the Spanish Succession, which we have already 
related, followed, and the years between 1698 and 1702 were 
occupied in efforts to prevent its taking place, and in prepara- 

2 Q 



610 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1689 to 

tions for it, when it became inevitable. On October 11, 1698, 
the first partition treaty was signed between England, Holland, 
William and anc ^ Fiance, by which Spain, the Indies, and the 
the French Netherlands were to go to the electoral prince of 
War. Bavaria, Guipnzcoa and the two Sicilies to the 

dauphin, and Milan to the Archduke Charles. This treaty 
was signed by William without the knowledge of his ministers. 
In the same year a fourth Parliament met, in which the 
" country party " was formed to act in opposition to the crown. 
It voted for the reduction of the army, upon which William 
threatened to leave England. The chief object of his life 
was the restriction of the power of France, and he regarded 
the crown of England merely as a means to that end. In the 
following year his Dutch guards were disbanded. In January 
of this year the electoral prince died, and a second partition 
treaty was signed on March 25, 1700, by which Spain, the 
Indies, and the Netherlands went to Archduke Charles, and 
Milan was to be given to France, to be exchanged eventually 
for Lorraine. At the close of this year, Charles II. of Spain 
died, which led to the results previously narrated. 

In 1701 a fifth Parliament met, with a Tory majority — much 
to the disgust of William, who greatly preferred the Whigs. 
This Parliament passed the famous Act of Settle- 
The Act of me nt, which was partly a succession act — placing 
the duchess-electress Sophia of Hanover (daughter 
of the lovely queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth, sister of Charles I.) 
and her heirs, if Protestants, next after James II. 's daughter 
Anne in the succession to William, — and partly a vote of cen- 
sure on William himself in the form of clauses forbidding the 
Hanoverian sovereigns to act as he had done. Thus they were 
to join the church of England, to be guided by the whole privy 
council — not by a secret cabinet, an individual minister, or 
their own ideas — to receive the permission of Parliament before 
leaving the country or involving it in a war to protect their 
foreign possessions ; they were to give no offices, no places in 
council or Parliament, and no lands to foreigners, and to have 
none of their officials or pensioners sitting in the Commons ; 
while judges were to hold office " during good behaviour," not 
at the mere pleasure of the crown, and a royal pardon was to 
be no bar to an impeachment. Some of these clauses were later 
repealed, and others modified, but enough remained in force to 
restrict the power of the crown considerably. This Parliament 
also impeached the Whig leaders, Somers, Portland, Orford, 



a.d. 1714] ENGLAND 611 

and Montague for the part which they had taken in the treaties 
of partition, and when a document called the Kentish Petition, 
in support of William's policy, was presented to Parliament, 
the five men who brought it were imprisoned by the Commons. 
The Grand Alliance was now formed, chiefly by the efforts 
of William and Heinsius, for the regaining of the barrier 
towns for Holland, and of Milan for Austria. England was 
reluctant to join, but was persuaded to do so when Louis, on 
the death of James, recognised the pretender as King James 
III. of England. Parliament was then dissolved, and the sixth 
Parliament was elected with a small Whig majority. This took 
the side of William, and passed an act ordering all official 
persons to renounce the Pretender. But in 1702, William III. 
died of an accident, and political questions entered on a new 
phase. 

Queen Anne, who succeeded, was a good woman and very 
popular, largely from her attachment to the Church of England. 
She was the last sovereign to preside habitually Q ueen Anne 
at meetings of the cabinet. Her husband was and her 
Prince George of Denmark, to whom she was Ministers, 
deeply attached, but he had no ability or distinction. Charles 
II. said of him, " I have tried him drunk ; I have tried him 
sober ; and, drunk or sober, there is nothing in him." Her 
principal ministers were Marlborough, Godolphin, Harley, and 
St. John — the first two Whigs, the last Tories. Marlborough 
was one of the greatest of Englishmen, although he has been 
much abused by historians. Whatever his conduct may have 
been under James or William, it had no faults under Anne. 
The most minute inquiry cannot discover in him during this 
period any failure in patriotism, dignity, or integrity. He 
was the sweetest and most forgiving of men, and a staunch 
friend. His life has never been adequately written. Godolphin 
was a firm friend and supporter of Marlborough. Harley was 
an unprincipled intriguer, with an absolute disregard for truth. 
He must have possessed ability to have gained the position 
he occupied, and his affability and easy temper procured him 
a large number of friends. St. John was a man of consummate 
ability, and of great brilliancy. He was an ardent Tory, but 
his want of principle and integrity has impaired the reputation 
which his other qualities would have secured for him. He 
was an admirable minister, and as an economist was in advance 
of his age. It is difficult to see how Anne was enabled to 
carry on the struggle against Louis XIV., which was natural 



612 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1689 to 

in the case of William III. The probable explanation is that 
the war was at first religious, both Anne and Marlborough 
being staunch Protestants, and that it afterwards became 
commercial as questions of trade began to assume a greater 
importance. The reign of Anne was marked by great violence 
of party conflict. The Whigs were in favour of 
lgs an parliamentary government and the limitation 
of the prerogative of the crown ; they supported 
the war in the interests of religion and commerce, and ad- 
vocated toleration to all Protestant churches. They depended 
for support on the Nonconformists, the rich merchants, and 
the middle classes who were engaged in trade. The Tories 
defended the royal prerogative, detested Nonconformists, and 
were opposed to the war because it was supported .;- by the 
Whigs. They were a faint echo of the Cavaliers. They were 
charged with being Jacobites, and some of them undoubtedly 
held correspondence with the court of St. Germain, but they 
were staunchly attached to the English church, and would 
not have tolerated a Roman Catholic king. Their strength lay 
in the clergy and the landed gentry, as it always has done and 
does still at the present day. 

The first ministry of Anne was a combination of Whigs and 
Tories — Nottingham, a Tory, was secretary of state, Godolphin 
first lord of the treasury, and Marlborough commander-in- 
chief. On October 20, 1702, Anne's first Parliament met, 
being of a Whig character. In the following year, in order to 
■Pk e induce Portugal to join the Grand Alliance, the 

Methuen Methuen treaty was signed, by which Portuguese 
Treaty. were admitted into England at a lower rate than 

French wines. In consequence of this, our ancestors deserted 
the drinking of claret for that of port, to the great injury of 
their digestions and the dissemination of gout. The portly, 
unwieldy figures of our eighteenth century ancestors are 
largely due to the Methuen treaty. At the same time, the 
extensive cultivation of vineyards and the admission on favour- 
able terms of English textiles ruined the agriculture and the 
manufactures of Portugal. At the end of this year, on 
November 26, England was devastated by a great storm, 
which, as sung by Dryden, still remains in the memory of 
men. Queen Anne's Bounty, which formed the first-fruits of 
benefices into a fund for the increasing of the incomes of the 
poorer clergy, dates from 1704. This was also the year of the 
capture of Gibraltar by Rooke, and the battle of Blenheim, 



a.d. 1714] ENGLAND 613 

already mentioned. The Tory members of the cabinet resigned, 
and their places were taken by Harley and St. John. Anne's 
second Parliament met in 1705, still having a Whig majority. 
The year 1706 is memorable for the battles of Ramillies and 
Turin. Sunderland, a Whig and an adherent of Marlborough, 
became secretary of state, and negotiations were begun for 
establishing a union between England and Scot- The Union 
land, which was completed in 1707. By this with 
momentous step, Great Britain came into exist- Scotland, 
ence. The Scotch kept their own laws and their own presby- 
terian church. All commercial restrictions between the two 
countries were removed. There was to be one Parliament for 
the united kingdom, Scotland being represented by forty-five 
members of the lower house and sixteen peers, elected afresh 
for every new Parliament. 

In l708, Harley and St. John resigned and the ministry 
became wholly Whig. Marlborough won the battle of Oude- 
narde and captured Lille, while Stanhope captured Minorca, 
which became a very valuable possession of the British crown. 
Anne's third Parliament met, which was very Whig, and was 
not likely to accept the offers of peace made by Louis XIV. 
In 1710, there was a sudden change from Whig to Tory, caused 
by the intrigues of Harley and by the dread of an attack upon 
the English church. Probably the fear of Anne's death and 
the dread of the return of the Pretender had some effect. A 
fourth Parliament was elected of a strong Tory complexion. 
The next year witnessed a complete change of policy. The 
duchess of Marlborough was dismissed from her p a u f 
offices, secret negotiations were entered upon with the Marl- 
France, popular opinion began to turn in favour boroughs, 
of peace, and Marlborough was dismissed from his offices. At 
last, in 1713, in the disgraceful manner narrated in the last 
chapter, the peace of Utrecht was concluded. It consisted 
of six several treaties, and left matters much as they were 
before, except that France was greatly weakened, which would 
have occurred in any case owing to the failing health of the great 
monarch. In 1714, Anne's last Parliament met, which was 
Tory in character, and the queen herself died. 
But, before this happened, Harley, now earl of ccessl0n0 
Oxford, was dismissed from his office, Shrewsbury, 
a man of high character, was made first lord of the treasury, 
and, by the death of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, her son, 
George, became heir-apparent to the throne of Great Britain. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE NOETHERN WAR, A.D. 1700-1721— ENGLAND, 
A.D. 1714-1740. 

Concurrently with the war of the Spanish Succession was 
begun the great Northern War between Russia and Sweden, 
to which we must now direct our attention. On the death 
The Sue- °f Gustavus Adolphus, Christina, his daughter, 
cessors of became queen, but eventually resigned the crown 
Gustavus to her nephew, Charles X. He is chiefly known 
Adolphus. ky his war with John II. (Casimir), king of 
Poland, whom he defeated at Warsaw in 1656, concluded by 
the peace of Roeskilde in 1658, after the famous march of 
Charles across the frozen Belt. His sudden death was followed 
in 1660 by the peace of Oliva, in which John Casimir of Poland, 
a scion of the house of Yasa, gave up all claims to the 
inheritance of Sweden, and surrendered Esthland and Livonia 
to that power. Before his death, Sweden was changed from an 
elective to an hereditary monarchy. His son, Charles XL, who 
reigned from 1660 to 1689, was a powerful and capable man, 
who greatly increased the prosperity and influence of his 
country. He, however, took the side of France in the contest 
with the Great Elector, and stormed the defences of Fehrbellin 
in 1675. He was succeeded by Charles XII., a man of genius, 
who, ascending the throne as a minor, found himself sur- 
rounded by enemies all eager to take advantage of his youth 
and inexperience. The most formidable of these enemies was 
Russia. 

The throne of Russia, after the extinction of the dynasty 

of Rurik in 1598, was occupied by the house of Romanov, the 

first of which was Michael III., son of the 

Romanovs Patriarch Philaret. He was succeeded by Alexis, 

who increased his territory at the expense of 

Poland, encouraged manufactures, mining, and commerce, 

published a code of laws, and endeavoured to bring his country 

into harmony with Western culture. His son, Feoclor, who 

614 



a.d. 1700-21] THE NORTHERN WAR 615 

reigned from 1676 to 1682, destroyed the power of the aristocracy, 
taking away their privileges, and establishing a bureaucracy 
founded on merit. At his death, the possession of the crown 
fell to his two brothers, Ivan III., and. Peter, who exercised 
joint powers and sat upon a double throne, which is still to be 
seen. But Ivan was incompetent and nearly blind, and Peter 
was the great sovereign to whose genius and 
energy the existence of modern Russia is due. „ e er . e 
As they were both young, their sister Sophia 
acted as regent. Soon Peter became master of the situation, 
and Sophia was sent to a monastery. His reign lasted from 
1689 to 1725. Educated by Lefort, a Swiss from Geneva, 
he early conceived an enthusiasm for European civilisation 
and for military enterprises, so that out of his young comrades 
was formed the Preobrashensky Regiment, the most efficient 
bulwark of the crown. He set to work to carry out his plans 
without losing a moment. He abolished the laws which 
hindered foreign travels, he placed his army on a European 
footing, he encouraged the advent of foreigners 
into the country, he remodelled the administra- 
tion, and, above all, he devoted himself to the development 
of sea power. He shaved off the beards of his subjects, 
and cut short their long gowns. He first turned his arms 
against Turkey, but, unfortunately, did not continue this line of 
advance. He conquered Asov in 1696, and secured its possession 
by the peace of Karlowitz in 1699. He then went abroad, 
lived for some time at Zaandam in Holland, occupied as a 
common workman ; visited England, where he was well received 
by William III., and studied the art of shipbuilding on the 
Thames. He was recalled by a rising of the Streltzi, a body of 
soldiers like the Janissaries, who, being formed into a community 
with wives and families, had acquired overweening power over 
the government. He subdued them in the most merciless 
manner, put an end to their existence, and created a new army 
controlled and drilled in the German fashion. He now fixed 
covetous eyes on the sea coast, and determined to establish a 
fleet in the Baltic, so he joined himself with Denmark and 
Poland to plunder the possessions of the boy Charles. 

In Poland, the family of the Jagellons, which had obtained 
possession of Masovia, Courland, Livonia, and Lithuania, came 

to an end in 1572. The monarchv then became „ , 

Poland, 
elective, but the constitution was, in effect, 

an oligarchical republic, like Venice, and was weakened by 



616 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. noo to 

the endeavours of the nobles to limit the royal power on the 
one side and to depress the people on the other. The first 
elected king was the duke of Anjou, who afterwards became 
Henry III. of France. The Poles then elected Stephen Batori, 
prince of Transylvania, who was followed by three kings of 
the house of Vasa — Sigismund III. of Sweden, Vladislaus IY. 
and John II. (Casimir.) The election of Casimir 

TnVin 

Ca 'm'r brought about a war with Sweden, in which 

Poland lost to her Esthland and Livonia, pro- 
vinces which had been acquired by Sigismund III. Poland 
was also compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of Prussia, 
which had assisted Sweden in the war. Casimir had also 
to surrender Smolensk and a part of the Ukraine to Russia, 
which led to his abdication, and he was succeeded by Michael — 
sprung from the ancient race of the Piasts, who had succeeded 
the Jagellons as kings of Poland — who reigned from 1669 to 
1673, and then by the heroic John III. (Sobieski), (1674-1696) 
who had conquered the Turks at Choczim, and now wrested 
from them Podolia and Kameniec, and drove them back from 
the walls of Yienna. But, though successful abroad, he could 
not procure peace and order at home. The next king of Poland 
was Augustus II. of Saxony, called the Strong, because he could 
bend a horseshoe with his fingers. At the invitation of Peter, 
he joined Russia in the war against Charles XII., hoping to 
regain for Poland, Esthland and Livonia, as he had promised 
when he succeeded to the throne. The league was also joined 
by King Christian Y. of Denmark, because, in 
his quarrel with Duke Frederick IY. of Holstein- 
Gottorp, Charles XII. had taken the side of the duke, who 
was his brother-in-law. Christian also hoped to recover the 
territory which he had ceded to Sweden in the treaty of 
Copenhagen. Christian, indeed, died in 1699, but his policy was 
Triple continued by his son and successor, Frederic IY. 

Alliance In this manner, Charles XII., coming to the 

against throne at the age of eighteen, found himself 

Charles XII. pp 0sec i by three powerful enemies — Russia, 
Poland, and Denmark — each wishing to take advantage of the 
youth and weakness of the Swedish king, to recover territory 
which it had lost; and the Northern War began in 1700, just 
when the war of the Spanish Succession was on the point of 
breaking out in another part of Europe. 

The war began by the invasion of Livonia by Augustus, of 
Ingiia by Peter, and of Schleswig by the Danes. Charles 



a.d. 17211 THE NORTHERN WAR 617 

was, however, no ordinary man, and by these unjust and 
cowardly attacks he was stimulated to exert his powers to 
the utmost. He had a strong will, an eager i^e 
though too adventurous spirit, a sound moral Northern 
nature, which made him detest the abandoned War. 
character of his opponent Augustus, the " physically strong," 
and a love of truth which filled him with indignation against 
the falseness of the age in which he lived. But in Peter he 
found an antagonist worthy of his steel. He made an alli- 
ance with the Elector Frederick III. of Brandenburg, Holland, 
and England, and attacked his nearest enemy, 

the king of Denmark. Landing in Iceland and n \^^^%-rr 
1 • ■ t 1 hit- Onarles All. 

obtaining speedy successes, he compelled mm 

in the peace of Traventhal to abandon his alliance with Russia, 

to give back everything which he had taken away from the 

duke of Holstein Gottorp, and to acknowledge his right to 

his possessions in Schleswig. He then turned against Russia. 

Peter was besieging the town of Narva. Charles won the battle 

of that name with eight thousand troops against a force five 

times its strength. Then he compelled Augustus to give up the 

investment of Riga. Crossing the river Duna, he conquered 

the Saxons, drove them out of Livonia and Courland, and 

then marched into Littau. Augustus sought for peace, but 

in vain. 

Charles XII. detested Augustus, and the energies of his life 

were wasted in his endeavours to crush him. He first tried to 

deprive him of the crown of Poland. He marched into that 

country and conquered Warsaw, and, after the battles of Klissow 

in 1702 and Pultusk in 1703, he became master of the whole of 

Poland, and in 1704 forced the Polish nobles to elect Stanislaus 

Leszczynski as a counter king. He then defeated the Saxons at 

Fraustadt, marched through Silesia and the Lausitz into Saxony, 

and took up his abode at Alt-Ranstadt, a town Charles 

near Leipzig, which no longer belongs to Saxony, at Alt- 

where the house in which he lived still remains Ranstadt. 

unaltered, and in 1706, by the peace of Alt-Ranstadt, compelled 

Augustus to give the crown of Poland to Stanislaus and to 

forsake the Russian alliance. It is remarkable that a king of 

Sweden should have taken up his abode for a whole year in the 

heart of Saxony and have neglected his own country, but 

Alt-Ranstadt was, during this period, the centre of European 

diplomacy, and Charles was visited there by Marlborough. 

Peter took advantage of this opportunity to conquer a large 



618 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. ivoo to 

portion of the Baltic provinces, to found Petersburg, at the 

mouth of the Neva in 1703, to build the fortress of Cronstadt 

in 1704, and to occupy Lithuania. This action 

Founded^ was c ^ sas t r ous for Sweden, and led to her fall, but 
it may be questioned whether it was for the good 
of Russia. Russia is the natural heir of the Byzantine empire, 
her projoer civil capital is Moscow, and her religious capital 
Kiev. It is right that she should possess Constantinople and 
an outlet on the Mediterranean by way of the Dardanelles. 
Peter could have gained all this with the approval of Europe, 
as Catherine II. could have clone at a later period, if he had not 
been torn asunder by his desire to humiliate Charles XII. and 
to reach the sea as soon as possible. St. Petersburg is an un- 
natural capital ; it is founded on piles and is sinking slowly into 
the sea ; it is unhealthy ; and it is in every increase of the 
Russian dominions farther away from the centre of gravity of 
the empire. 

After leaving Saxony, Charles crossed the Beresina, defeated 
the Russians at Cholovczin, and then crossed the Dnieper. He 

Charles was joined by Mazeppa, who, wishing to free the 

invades Ukraine from paying tribute to Russia, brought 

Russia. hi m 30,000 of his Cossacks and abundant supplies 

of food. At his impulse, he determined to march upon Moscow, 
and ordered his general, Lewenhaupt, who was stationed in 
Courland, to join him with 11,000 men, but he found himself 
involved in marshes and desert, and his troops perished from 
hunger and disease. Lewenhaupt joined him, having lost half 
his army and all his supplies on the march. Mazeppa was 
deserted by his own people, and reached the camp of Charles 
as a fugitive. At last, with difficulty, he reached the city of 
Pultava, where he found himself opposed by a 

Pultava Russian army of three times his strength. Charles 

had been wounded in the foot, and was carried 

through the ranks of his troops in a litter made of lance poles. 

He was completely defeated in 1709, and his army was scattered 

to the winds. 

Charles escaped with great difficulty to Bender in Bessarabia, 

where he was received with great honour by the pasha, and by 

command of the Sultan, Achmed III., was sup- 

jjjjj^? a plied with provisions and money, and allowed to 

establish a fortified camp, in which he lived. He 

was ashamed to return to his own country, and he employed a 

Pole, Count Poniatowski, to stir up the Sultan to a war with 



a.d. 1721] THE NORTHERN WAR 6rg 

Russia. Peter marched into Moldavia, but was surrounded by 
the Turks on the Pruth, and would have been lost if his wife 
Catherine had not procured his escape by bribing the Grand 
Vizier and surrendering Azov. When Charles protested against 
this, the Turks determined to get rid of him, and refused sup- 
plies. This made Charles still more obstinate. He procured 
money from France and other places, built himself a house, and 
seemed likely to remain in Bender for the rest of his life. He 
stimulated the Sultan to a fresh war against Russia, which was 
stopped by the intervention of England and Holland. During 
this time Sweden was neglected, and was becoming every day 
weaker. The true condition of affairs was at length realised by 
the Sultan. Augustus of Saxony had recovered the Polish crown ; 
Peter had extended his conquests over the Baltic provinces, 
including Finland ; Denmark had strengthened herself by the pos- 
session of Bremen and Yerden, and was assured of the possession 
of Schleswig and Holstein by a league of neutrality signed by 
Prussia, England, Holland, and France, called the Concert of 
the Hague. The Sultan now urged Charles to depart, and, when 
he refused, attacked his camp with an army of 12,000 men, 
whom Charles opposed with a handful of 700 Swedes. After a 
heroic resistance, he was taken prisoner, and carried off to a 
castle of the Sultan in the neighbourhood of Adrianople. 

This insane enterprise had lasted for five years, and during 
that time Sweden had been without a king. Nothing now 
remained to Charles but a return to his own Charles 
country. Disguised, on horseback, he rode with returns to 
terrific speed for fourteen days, and reached Sweden. 
Stralsund on November 22, 1714, where he found everything 
in confusion. Anne was dead, Louis XIV. was dying, and 
Charles and Peter occupied the stage of Europe. As soon as 
Charles arrived in Stralsund, he ordered the Prussians to 
evacuate Stettin, upon which Prussia, Hanover, and England 
declared war against him, and besieged him. When, after a 
short resistance, he found that the city was no longer defensible, 
he crossed over to Sweden in a small boat, and arrived there on 
December 24, 1715, after an absence of fifteen years. Stralsund 
fell soon after his departure, which speedily involved the loss 
of Wismar, so that Sweden had no more possessions left on 
German soil. Instead of going to Stockholm and summoning 
the chambers, he remained in the little town of Ystad, 
depending upon the advice of his untrustworthy minister, Baron 
Gorz. He now attempted the reduction of Norway, which 



620 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 17001721 

belonged to Denmark, and crossed the mountains with great 
difficulty on the way to Ohristiania, but he was compelled 
to return to Sweden. Gorz was attempting to make peace 
when Charles determined upon a second invasion of Norway, 
crossing the mountains again and attacking the small but 
well defended frontier fortress of Friedrichshall, which it was 
necessary to reduce before he could advance into the interior. 
On November 20, 17 18, at nine o'clock in the evening, he went 
to watch the fortress by torchlight, and, as he 
fh 1 ° was l eanni » on the parapet, he was killed by a 

ball from the fortress. It was long thought that 
he was the victim of treachery, but careful surgical observa- 
tions have proved that this was not the case. 

After the death of Charles, the Swedish nobles, to revenge 
themselves for his conduct, which had always been unpopular 
and was certainly disastrous to the country, arrested Gorz, 
and with a slight show of legality condemned and beheaded 
him. After neglecting the claims of Charles' nephew, the 
duke of Holstein-Gottorp, they placed on the throne his sister, 
Ulrica Eleanora, who was married to Frederick, crown prince 
Treaties of °f Hesse Cassel. By the treaties of Stockholm, 
Stockholm made in 1719 and 1720, with Denmark, Prussia, 
andNystadt. and Hanover, Sweden lost her possessions in 
Germany, and by the treaty of Nystadt in 1721 she surrendered 
to Russia the Baltic provinces of Livonia, Esthonia, and Ingria. 
Queen Ulrica made over the government of the country 
to her husband Frederick, who consented to a considerable 
limitation of the powers of the crown. Bremen and Verden 
were sold to Hanover — that is, to George I. of England — for a 
million thalers ; a large portion of Pomerania was purchased 
by Prussia for two million dollars ; and Sweden fell into such a 
condition of weakness that the country was distracted by the 
quarrels of two parties, the " Hats " and ithe " Caps," the first 
being devoted to the French and the second to ( the Russians, 
while the government oscillated in dependence upon one of these 
countries or the other as their influence alternately prevailed. 
Poland was even in a worse condition than Sweden. Stanislaus, 
having lost all his power after the death of Charles XII., 
retired to France but kept the title of king, with a gift of a 
million thalers from Augustus the Strong. 

The result of this was that Peter the Great was the most 
powerful sovereign in the north of Europe. He deprived the 
Parliament and the Synod of their power, and became the 



a.d. 1714-1740] ENGLAND 621 

head of the Russian church, and in 1720 assumed the title 
of Emperor of all the Russias. He conquered a part of the 
Caucasus, and opened the way for a large ex- L as t Years 
tension of Russian territory towards the east. of Peter the 
A few years before his death, which occurred in Great. 
1725, he got a law passed which gave the emperor the right 
of nominating his successor. His son Alexis, who was 
opposed to all his father's reforms, was under the 
influence of the clergy, and would probably, if s lessors 
he had succeeded to the throne, have upset every- 
thing which his father had done. He was arrested, and died in 
prison, certainly with his father's cognisance, possibly by his 
hand. Peter left the throne to the widow of Alexis, their son 
Peter being only a child. Catherine I. reigned from 1725 
to 1727; Peter II. from 1727 to 1730, Menzikow being prime 
minister until he was deposed by the Dolgorukis and sent 
to Siberia. Peter II. was followed by the Empress Anna, the 
daughter of Ivan, Peter's elder brother. She was the widow 
of the duke of Courlancl, and reigned from 1730 to 1740, having 
for her prime minister Biren, who drove the Dolgorukis from 
power. After the death of Anna, the crown passed to Ivan 
VI., the son of her niece, Anne, duchess of Brunswick, who 
acted as regent. Ivan was deposed by Field-marshal Munich, 
and the government remained with Anne. Eventually, in 
1741, Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Peter the Great, 
got possession of the throne, with the help of her physician 
Lestocq, and held it till her death in 1762, Anne and her 
supporters being banished to Siberia. 



ENGLAND, A.D. 1714-1740. 

George I., elector of Hanover, was fifty-four years of age 
when he came to the throne of England, in 1714. He had 
already been elector of Hanover for sixteen years. 
He was a man of no distinction, although he eor S e 
possessed a certain stubborn courage in war. He had never 
learnt English, and his interests were centred in Hanover. 
As Chesterfield said of him, England was too large for him, 
and his narrow and punctilious mind could not rise to the 
dignity of governing a great kingdom. This was disastrous 
to our country, because she became involved in petty continental 
quarrels in which she had no interest. In 1682 he had married 



622 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. nu to 

Sophia Dorothea of Zell, whom he divorced on a charge of 
infidelity, which had little foundation and which she strongly 
denied. She spent the last thirty-two years of her life in a 
solitary mansion on the moors of Liineburg, flitting like a ghost 
over the waste of heather, an object of compassion, but also 
of mysterious terror. He quarrelled with his son, George II., 
and he consoled himself for the absence of his wife with dull 
German mistresses. One consequence of the sovereign's ignor- 
ance of English was that he did not attend cabinet 
theCabinet councns - The result was to give the prime 
minister much more power, and to increase the 
importance of the cabinet. The cabinet is a curious institu- 
tion, which has grown up gradually and is unknown to the 
constitution. When the ministry resigns, the king invites 
a prominent politician to form a government. He in his turn 
fills up the various offices, and nominates some of their holders 
to form a cabinet, the number being at his own discretion. 
The cabinet meets irregularly, but the prime minister always 
presides. It forms what is called a probouleutic body — that 
is to say, it decides what measures shall be brought before 
Parliament and the form which they shall take. The proceed- 
ings are strictly private, and the order of business varies accord- 
ing to circumstances. The members are supposed to be loyal 
to each other, and to present a united front to the nation and 
to their adversaries. Historically speaking, the cabinet is a 
committee of the privy council, which now no longer deliberates, 
but only performs certain executive functions. 

The head of the first cabinet of George I. was Townshend, 
who was assisted by Stanhope and Halifax, and above all by 
Walpole, who was paymaster of the forces, but 
?j? b 1 ert 1 not yet in the cabinet. Robert Walpole is the 

typical minister of George's reign. He had a 
large mind and an imposing presence : he possessed that sense 
of moderation which he knew to be especially necessary at a 
time when the strife between Stuarts and Hanoverians raged 
furiously, and foreign or civil war might have entirely destroyed 
the power of England. He kept the country and the govern- 
ment together, until England was ready for the rule of George 
III., who was a thorough Englishman, with neither the vices 
nor the virtues of the Stuarts. A general election, in 1715, 
returned a Whig Parliament ; St. John, now Viscount Boling- 
broke, threatened with impeachment, went abroad, and joined the 
Pretender ; Oxford was impeached and imprisoned ; Ormond fled 



a.d. 1740] ENGLAND 623 

the country. To prevent disturbances, a Riot Act was passed, 
by which it was provided that any twelve persons assembling 
together for the pur-pose of disturbing the peace who did not 
disperse on the order of a magistrate should be guilty of felony. 
England found herself involved in difficulties with Sweden, in 
the interests of Hanover. As before mentioned, Bremen and 
Yerden, which in the absence of Charles XII. from his country 
had been taken by Frederick of Denmark, were now sold by 
him to Hanover, but Charles on his return was anxious to re- 
cover them, and an English fleet was sent to the Baltic to 
prevent this from taking place. 

The year 1715 is marked by a great rebellion in favour of the 
Pretender. The leaders of it were John Erskine, earl of Mar, 
who in consequence of his frequent change of 
opinion was called " Bobbing John," and the earl f{l^ n 
of Derwentwater. On September 6, Mar pro- 
claimed the Pretender as James VIII. of Scotland and James 
III. of England, at Braemar. The battles of Preston and Sheriff- 
muir were fought on the same day — one a defeat, the other- 
indecisive; the Pretender landed too late to help, and in 1716 
the rebellion was suppressed. Indeed, it never had a chance 
of success ; France refused to assist, the English government 
suppressed any possible rising in the west, and the Highlanders 
were of no use against regular troops. The rebels were treated 
with general leniency ; only Derwentwater and Kenmure perished 
on the scaffold. Among the results of this rebellion were the 
Septennial Act, which, in the interests of security, prolonged 
the legal duration of the sitting and future Parliaments to 
seven years ; and the making of roads in the Highlands by 
Marshal Wade, in order to prevent another rising of the clans. 
In 1717 a triple alliance was concluded between England, 
France, and Holland, against the pretensions of Spain, and 
Alberoni, the powerful minister of that country, began to 
intrigue for the restoration of the Stuarts. As Townshend did 
not approve of this policy he was dismissed, Walpole resigned, 
and the government came into the hands of Stanhope and 
Sunderland. In 1718, the triple alliance became a quadruple 
alliance by the addition of the empire, a war broke out between 
Spain and Austria, and there was a formal declaration of war 
by England against Spain. However, in 1719, Alberoni fell 
from power, and in 1720 peace was made. 

In 1721, Walpole became first lord of the treasury and 
chancellor of the exchequer, and was assisted by Townshend 



624 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1714 to 

and Carteret. The weakness of the crown favoured the rise of 
a really great minister such as Walpole undoubtedly was. A 
staunch friend of peace, and ahadmirable financier, 
Walpole s ^ ki s equable temper and diplomatic prowess he 
kept England out of foreign complications without 
injuring her prestige, and under his rule commercial progress 
made great advances. He removed restrictions on commerce, 
and laid the foundations of a valuable colonial trade. He also 
consolidated cabinet government, the beginnings of which have 
already been noticed. He demanded unity of action from his 
colleagues ; he governed in accordance with the will of the people 
as expressed in the House of Commons ; and, while allowing 
members of the cabinet considerable liberty in the expression of 
opinion, took pains to keep himself at its head. Unfortunately, 
he allowed a system of corruption to grow up which lasted till 
the advent to power of the younger Pitt in the year 1783. 
Members of Parliament who had little political principle were 
ready to sell their votes for money, and Walpole said of his chief 
opponents that every man had his price. In 1722 it was found 
that Bishop Atterbury had been plotting in favour of the 
Pretender ; he was impeached and banished, but at the same 
time a pardon was granted to the exiled Bolingbroke. 

In the interval between the death of Louis XIV., in 1715, 
and the accession of Frederick the Great in 1740, foreign 
England affairs were both complicated and obscure. It 

and Foreign has been said that the politics of Europe turned 
Affairs. n the fate of the boy king Louis XV., — on the 

questions, first, whether he would die, and secondly, whom he 
would marry. Philip V. of Spain was eager to undo the treaty 
of Utrecht ; to assert his own right of succession to the crown 
of France if Louis died ; in any case to strengthen the connec- 
tion between the two countries. But the most active intriguer 
in Europe was Philip's second wife, Elizabeth Farnese of Parma, 
and her chief aim was to secure for her sons appanages in 
her native Italy — a scheme only partly consonant with Spanish 
interests. After the fall of Alberoni, Philip renewed his re- 
nunciation of the French succession ; the Spanish Infanta went 
to France as the prospective bride of Louis ; and England and 
France prepared to support Spanish claims in Italy at the 
impending congress of Cambrai. But, when they failed to 
coerce the emperor in Spain's interest, Elizabeth resolved to 
win over Charles VI. by direct negotiations, and marry her 
sons to Austrian archduchesses. Charles offered only very one- 



a.d. 1740] ENGLAND 625 

sided terms, but Spain was driven to accept them by Louis' 
sudden repudiation of the Infanta in 1725, followed by his 
marriage with Maria Leszczynska of Poland. His 
advisers, alarmed by an illness which might have - ar . n ^® 
ended fatally and left the succession open, had 
urged an immediate marriage, and the Infanta was still under 
seven. Yet her hasty return to Spain caused not unnatural 
chagrin, and led Elizabeth, in return for the vaguest promises, 
to grant trading privileges to Charles' pet Ostend Company, 
and to guarantee his " Pragmatic Sanction "■ — i.e. The 
a decree securing the Austrian dominions — failing Pragmatic 
male issue — to his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa. Sanction. 
The treaty of Hanover, formed in alarm by England, France, 
and Prussia, and joined presently by Holland, Sweden, and 
Denmark, forced Charles VI. to make larger promises, espe- 
cially as to help in recovering Gibraltar and Minorca. Yet, 
when in 1727 Gibraltar was attacked by Spain, he did not fulfil 
his engagements, and preliminaries of peace were soon signed. 
At this crisis, George I. died, and was succeeded by his son, 
George II., who, in 1705, had married Caroline of Anspach, a 
gifted woman, to whom he was sincerely attached, although she 
had prevented him from keeping mistresses at his court, the 
general practice of sovereigns in those days. 

George II. was a better king than his father. He was 
courageous, just, and truthful, was a good man of business, 
and was not averse to war. Walpole kept his 
place, and the system of cabinet government was 
continued. The condition of Europe did not improve, and 
its vicissitudes are difficult to follow until the arrival of greater 
men upon the scene of action. In 1729, a son and heir was 
born to Louis XV., and peace was made between England, 
France, and Spain by the treaty of Seville. By this, the 
appanage of " Baby Charles," the succession of Don Carlos 
to Parma, Piacenza, and Tuscany, was at last guaranteed. In 
1731, the second treaty of Vienna was signed between England, 
Holland, Austria, and Spain, by which the succession to the 
Italian duchies and the arrangements of the Pragmatic Sanc- 
tion were confirmed. Two years later a family com- 
pact was signed between the two Bourbon king- compact 
doms of France and Spain, which was afterwards 
renewed and produced considerable results. In 1737, Queen 
Caroline died, an event which weakened the popularity of 
Walpole. Frederick, prince of Wales, a weak but amiable 

2 R 



626 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1714-1740 

character, led the opposition against Walpole, and it was 

strengthened by the appearance of the great William Pitt, 

then merely a " terrible cornet of horse," the leader of the 

young Whigs, who were called " the boys," who were tired 

of Walpole's pacific policy and wished for more resolute action, 

especially against Spain. In consequence of 

ar wi this, in 1739, war was declared against Spain, 

generally known as the war of " Jenkins' Ear," 

because a sea captain of that name had his ear cut off. The 

real cause, however, was the claim of Spain to search English 

ships on the high seas, in order to discover whether the 

conditions imposed upon British trade by the treaty of Utrecht 

were properly observed. Spain claimed the entire possession 

of the new world, which England could not permit, and which 

Spain's power was not sufficient to enforce. This led to war in 

the present instance, and nearly to a war in the time of the 

French Revolution with regard to Nootka Sound. The war 

began with the capture of Portobello by Admiral Vernon. It 

was popular, and the opposition to Walpole was strengthened 

by the collusion of Pulteney and Carteret. But an important 

event occurred, which altered the course of events in Europe. 

In 1740, the year in which Anson started on his voyage round 

the world, and attacked Spanish ships, the Emperor Charles 

Death ^"^' c ^ ec b and, according to the provisions of 

of the the Pragmatic Sanction, was succeeded by his 

Emperor daughter Maria Theresa. In the same year, 

Charles. Frederick II. succeeded to the throne of Prussia, 

and, by claiming from Maria Theresa the province of Silesia, 

began the war of the Austrian Succession. From this time till 

his death, Frederick is the most prominent figure in Europe. 



CHAPTER IX. 

PRUSSIA, A.D. 1675-1786— RUSSIA, A.D. 1762-1776— AUSTRIA, 
A.D. 1765-1790— ENGLAND, A.D. 1740-1783. 

The real founder of the kingdom of Prussia was the Great 
Elector, Frederick William of Brandenburg, who by the treaty 
of Welau obtained sovereignty over Preussen, The 
an Eastern province on the Baltic, the capital Kingdom 
of which was Konigsberg, and, as ally of Holland of Prussia. 
against Louis XIV., won, in 1675, the battle of Fehrbellin, as 
has been previously narrated. He was a powerful supporter of 
Protestantism, a confession already adopted in 1613 by the 
Elector John Sigismund. The son of the Great Elector, 
Frederick III., a very splendid and extravagant gentleman, 
having promised to support the Emperor Leopold in the war 
of the Spanish Succession, was made king of Prussia, on 
January 18, 1701, just a hundred and seventy years before 
his successor, William, received the title of German Emperor at 
Versailles. His son and successor, Frederick William I., who 
reigned from 1713 to 1740, paid the debts of his 
extravagant father. He was of a rough nature, ^. e .^. enc ^ 
insensible to culture of all kinds, and spent his 
life in reforming the administration of his kingdom and getting 
together a powerful army, the kernel of which was formed by a 
collection of the tallest men in Europe, whom he gathered by 
every means in his power, fair and foul. At his death he left 
a treasure of nine million thalers, and an army of 83,000 men. 
He had many excellences as a sovereign. He did much to 
restore the prosperity of a country ruined by the Thirty Yeais' 
War. He rebuilt towns, filled deserts with inhabitants, and estab- 
lished schools and other benevolent institutions. In 1731, he 
received the Protestants driven out of their country by Firmian, 
archbishop of Salzburg. In the creation of his army, he was 
assisted by Leopold of Dessau, called the "old Dessauer," who 
did yeoman service at Blenheim and Turin. He increased his 

627 



628 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1740 to 

kingdom by the acquisition of Upper Guelders in the treaty of 
Utrecht, and of Stettin in the Northern War. 

The new kingdom wanted a man of genius to consolidate it, 
and this was found in Frederick II., rightly called Frederick 
the Great, who, besides his extraordinary intellec- 
*he Great ^ ua ^ <I ua lities, possessed an iron will and untiring 
industry. He was born on January 24, 1712. 
His first education was French, which took such hold upon 
him as to make him the object of his father's animosity. No 
two natures could be more different — he was David, son of 
Goliath. He was treated so badly that he attempted to fly 
to England, but was arrested, imprisoned in the fortress of 
Kustrin, and condemned to death. Though himself reprieved, 
he saw his bosom friend, Lieutenant Katte, brutally executed 
under his windows. He afterwards married a princess of 
Brunswick-Bevern, and received Rheinsberg as an inheritance 
Here he continued his French studies, and kept up his corre- 
spondence with Voltaire, D'Alembert, and other leaders of the 
French Renaissance. However, he determined to be a great 
king, and in this matter to follow in his father's footsteps. He 
said to his ministers on his accession, " You may have hitherto 
thought that there was a difference between the interests of 
the king and the interests of the country ; henceforth, you 
must consider that they are the same — indeed, that the interests 
of the country come first." 

We have already seen that Frederick and Maria Theresa 

ascended their respective thrones in the same year. Frederick 

First immediately laid claim, on very insufficient 

Silesian grounds, to a part of Silesia, marched into Glatz, 

War. compelled Breslau to be neutral, and the first 

Silesian War began. The young prince of Dessau stormed 

Glogau, and Frederick fought in 1741 the battle of Mollwitz, in 

which the victory was secured by Schwerin. Brieg surrendered, 

Breslau did homage to the new sovereign, and Silesia was 

conquered. The action of Frederick against the unfortunate 

Maria Theresa was soon imitated on a larger scale. The 

Coalition Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria denied the 

against validity of the Pragmatic Sanction, and claimed 

Austria. the Austrian dominions; Philip Y. of Spain did 

the same, and concluded a treaty of Nymphenburg with France 

and Bavaria, which was joined by Saxony, Cologne, and the 

Palatinate. Frederick signed a treaty with France at Breslau, 

in which he promised to give the Elector of Bavaria his vote for 



a.d. 17861 FREDERICK THE GREAT 629 

the imperial crown. The object of these combined attacks was 
the dismemberment of the Austrian monarchy, and the Silesian 
war became a war of the Austrian Succession. -^ ar f ^e 
As the Saxons invaded Bohemia and the Spaniards Austrian 
Italy, Charles Albert occupied Upper Austria, Succession, 
marched into Bohemia and received the homage of his subjects 
at Prague, and was crowned at Frankfort as German Emperor, 
with the title of Charles VII. Hereupon, Maria Theresa betook 
herself to Pressburg, and threw herself upon the fidelity and 
chivalry of the Hungarians. She mounted, on horseback, the 
legendary hill, swung her sword north, south, east, and west, 
and the nobles and people shouted in the official Latin tongue, 
" Vivat domina et rex noster, Theresia ! Moriamur pro rege 
nostro Maria Theresia ! " (" Long live our Lady and King Maria 
Theresa ! Let us die for our King, Maria Theresa ! "). Her tender 
age of twenty-three, her beauty, goodness, and fine courage, had 
won all hearts, and were to preserve her through the trials of a 
long, but, in many ways, troubled reign. 

In 1742, Frederick won a second battle at Chotusitz, and Maria 
Theresa, by the intervention of England, made with him the 
treaty of Berlin, by which a large portion of Silesia was ceded 
to Prussia. As Saxony also acceded to this peace, Maria was 
able to overrun Bavaria, to capture the capital, Munich, and 
drive the pseudo-emperor from his dominions, and the French 
from Bohemia, while the English in 1743 won the battle of 
Dettingen, and Charles Emmanuel of Saxony joined Austria. 
Frederick was not satisfied, and in 1744 he aided Charles VII. 
and the French in a second Silesian War, which, Second 
after Prague and Munich had been captured and Silesian 
recaptured, ended by the death of Charles, at the War. 
early age of forty-eight. His son, Maximilian II. (Joseph), signed 
the peace of Fiissen in 1745, in which he resigned all claims to 
the empire and promised to vote for Francis I. of Lorraine, the 
husband of Maria Theresa. Francis was crowned at Frankfort 
on September 13, 1745, and was recognised by Frederick in the 
peace of Dresden, so that the war of the Austrian Succession 
came to an end, so far as Bavaria was concerned. But Maria 
Theresa was still unsatisfied. She yearned for Silesia. Frederick, 
however, beat her armies in June at Hohenfriedberg, in September 
at Sohr, and in December at Kesselsdorf ; Dresden capitulated ; 
and Maria Theresa at last recognised the Prussian claim to 
Silesia and Glatz. Spain now gave up the war in Italy, and 
Austria had only to contend against the French in the Nether- 



630 A GENERAL HISTORY [a. n. 1740 to 

lands. Here Maurice of Saxony, the son of Augustus the Strong, 

serving as a French marshal, won several battles over the 

Austrians and English. The Empress Elizabeth of Russia 

Peace of promised aid to the allies, and this helped to 

Aix-la- make France accept the peace of Aixda-Chapelle 

Chapelle. in 1748, which completely put an end to the 

struggle. The Pragmatic Sanction was maintained, and Parma, 

Piacenza, and Guastalla went to Carlos. 

Peace continued for some years, but Maria Theresa had not 
given up hope of recovering Silesia, and she continued to make 
French and preparations with that object. With the help of 
Austrian her minister Kaunitz, she made an alliance with 
Alliance. France, now governed by Louis XV. and his 

mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour — with the Empress Eliza- 
beth of Russia, whom Frederick had satirised — and with Saxony, 
whose minister, Count Briihl, was Frederick's personal enemy. 
Having heard of the plans of his enemies by the betrayal of the 
secrets of the Saxon foreign office, Frederick determined to 
forestall them, made an alliance with England, an enemy of 
France, and with Brunswick, Hesse Cassel, and Saxe Gotha, and 
by a sudden invasion of Saxon y in 1756 began 
Yea s' W *^ e Seven Years' War. He occupied Dresden, 
blockaded the Saxons at Pirna, defeated at Lobo- 
sitz Marshal Browne the Austrian, who was marching to their 
assistance, compelled the whole Saxon army, 17,000 strong, to lay 
down their arms at Pirna, and got Saxony into his power. 
In the second year, 1757, Austria was joined by Sweden and the 
empire, but Frederick conquered Bohemia, and won the battle 
of Prague, though with the loss of his trusty general, Schwerin. 
Frederick was defeated at Kolin on June 18, 1757, but avenged 
himself brilliantly at Rossbach against the French on November 5, 
and completely routed the Austrians at Leuthen on December 5. 
Meanwhile the Russians, under Apraxin, were defeated at 
Grossjagerndorf, and stopped from further operations by the 
false news of the death of Elizabeth and the accession of 
Peter III., who was a friend of Frederick. In the third year of 
the war, 1758, Frederick received the powerful assistance of the 
English minister, the great William Pitt, and committed the 
command of his allied troops to the hero Ferdinand of Brunswick, 
who drove the French back to the Rhine, and defeated them at 
Crefeld. Frederick now secured Brandenburg from invasion by 
beating the Russians at Zorndorf on one side and the Austrians 
at Hochkirch on the other, but he could not prevent the former 



a.». 1786] FREDERICK THE GREAT 631 

occupying Preussen. In the fourth year, 1759, Frederick busied 
himself with defensive operations, because his own army was 
worn out and the enemy had received new assistance. It is 
true that Duke Ferdinand defeated the French at Minden on 
August 1, but he could not prevent the Russians and Austrians 
from fighting and winning the battle of Kunersdorf on August 
12, or the capture of Dresden by Daun. The fifth year, 1760, 
is marked by the battle of Torgau, fought on November 3 : the 
wing commanded by Frederick was entirely defeated, and the 
king spent the night in devising plans for recovering himself on 
the following day ; but in the early morning he received news 
from Ziethen that he had been successful on his wing, and that 
the enemy was retiring. King George II. of England was suc- 
ceeded in 1760 by his grandson, George III., who, partly from 
jealousy of Pitt, determined to withdraw from the war, and to 
discontinue the subsidies. This brought Frederick into terrible 
straits. On the other hand, in 1763, the Empress Elizabeth 
died, and was succeeded by her nephew, Peter III., who not only 
made peace, but an alliance with Frederick, and when Peter 
died six months later, and was succeeded by Catherine II., 
although the alliance was dissolved, peace was made. Frederick, 
however, had still to continue fighting until the peace of Paris 
between France, England, and Spain was signed Treaties of 
on February 10, 1763, by which England acquired Paris and 
Canada and many other colonial possessions, and Huberts- 
which was followed on February 15 by the peace bur &- 
of Hubertsburg between Prussia and Austria, securing Silesia 
to Prussia, though otherwise restoring all conquests. Thus 
ended the Seven Years' War, the great event of the middle of 
the eighteenth century, as the war of the Spanish Succession 
had been of its commencement, and the American War and the 
French Revolution were of its close. England gained much by 
it, but if Pitt had continued in office she would have gained 
much more. 

In the Seven Years' War, Frederick showed himself to be 
in the first rank of military commanders of modern times, 
but he also displayed qualities of untiring energy, Frederick's 
of love of action which rivalled that of the first Domestic 
Napoleon, of economy, and of strict justice. In Policy. 
these respects, he made himself a model to the extravagant 
and self-indulgent German princes of his time, who had been 
corrupted by the example of Versailles. Above all, he placed 
the welfare of his people above every other consideration. His 



632 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1740-1786 

court set an example of careful housekeeping, which he carried 
sometimes to extraordinary lengths. An ambassador wrote 
to the English Foreign Office that he saw the great king, 
before an evening party in the palace, inspect the ball room, 
to see that too many wax lights were not being consumed. 
Berlin owed much to him as a city ; he built the Opera House, 
the Cathedral, and the Public Library, and he founded the 
country villas of Potsdam, the Neue Palais, and Sansouci. 
His leisure time was spent in the pursuit of music, poetry, and 
science. He held a concert every day, in which he played 
the flute, and the music performed at these entertainments 
is still much admired. He corresponded with most of the 
illustrious persons of his time, but always in the French language, 
in which he wrote both prose and poetry. His great friend 
and confidant was that versatile genius Voltaire, with whom 
he eventually quarrelled. Maria Theresa was 
Theresa a W01 ^^y contemporary of this great man. She 

also used the period of peace now allowed her 
to heal the wounds of war, to build up a wise administration 
of her motley empire, to further the interests of her subjects, 
by the wisdom of a statesman and the loving care of a mother. 
She also practised a strict economy, encouraged manufactures 
and commerce, reformed the army, invented a system of military 
colonies on the frontiers, and secured the affections of the 
Hungarians. Frederick was a free-thinker, Maria Theresa a 
strict Catholic, but she did not allow herself to be dominated by 
the influence of Rome. 



RUSSIA, A.D. 1762-1776. 

Russia was at this time governed by Catherine II., a princess 

of Anhalt Zerbst, the widow of Peter IIL, famous for her 

amours and her ability, her learning and her lust. 

a erine s^e 1 . e ig nec i ovei . ^he R uss i an empire from 1762 

to 1776. When Stanislaus Poniatowski gave the 
Dissidents in Poland equal rights with the Catholics, the 
latter formed in 1768 the Confederation of Bar, and made 
war against Stanislaus, who was supported by Russia. Catherine 
also made war against the Turks, who were roused to action 
by France, and, after burning the Turkish fleet in the sea 
fight of Tchesme in 1770, made herself mistress of Wallachia, 
Moldavia, and the Crimea. Catherine now conceived the idea 
of a partition of Poland, and Frederick fell in with her views. 



a.d. 1765-1790] AUSTRIA 633 

Austria, represented by Kaunitz, did not reject the tempting 
offer, and in 1772 the first partition of Poland took place. 
Austria received; eastern Galicia and Lodomeria, First 
formed into a 'kingdom ; Prussia, the district Partition of 
which had been? surrendered to Poland in the Poland. 
peace of Thorn in 1466, and the eastern part of Lithuania 
as far as the Duna and the Dnieper. This act of partition 
was condemned by the other powers, and the fate of the 
country, which was finally dismembered by two other partitions, 
has excited much commiseration, for which there is little foun- 
dation. Distracted by faction, Poland was entirely unable to 
govern herself, and it is doubtful whether, if she were now 
restored, she would exhibit any greater capacity in this respect. 
Catherine II. continued to make war against Turkey, and, 
in the year 1774, in the treaty of Kutschuk- 
Kainardji, obtained the right of freedom of com- Kainardii 
merce in all Turkish waters, and, in the peace of 
January 1792, the river Dniester as a boundary. Assisted by 
her favourite Potemkin, she continued the work of Peter the 
Great in bringing Russia into line with the civilisation of the 
rest of Europe, and promoted both the material and spiritual 
development of her dominions by every means in her power, 
so that she has left behind her the reputation of a great and 
beneficent ruler. 



AUSTKIA, A.D. 1765-1790. 

Joseph II., the son of Maria Theresa, was elected emperor in 
1765, on the death of his father, Francis I., although his mother 
continued to govern the territory of Austria. He 
took Frederick the Great as a model of a reforming 
sovereign, but he made the mistake of supposing that reforms 
could be introduced by the promulgation of edicts and laws, and 
forgot that liberty must rest on a change of people's hearts. 
He is represented as sitting at a table with his minister, writing 
edicts which the minister threw into the waste-paper basket. 
One of his great objects was to increase his dominions by the 
incorporation of a large portion of Bavaria, and, for this purpose, 
he seized the opportunity given him by the death of the Elector 
Maximilian III. (Joseph) in 1777. He persuaded his successor, 
Charles Theodore, who was Elector Palatine also, to make over 
to him much of the Bavarian inheritance. Frederick the Great 
resisted this by joining Frederick Augustus of Saxony in a war of 



634 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.u; 1765-1790 

the Bavarian Succession, which consisted of little else than an 
invasion of Bohemia as far as Troppau, and is known by the 
War of the name of the Potato War. It was put an end to by 
Bavarian the peace of Teschen in 1779, by which Joseph 
Succession, renounced all right to Bavaria except a district 
connecting Austria with the Tyrol — the so-called Innviertel, 
being the land enclosed by the Inn, the Danube, and the Salzach. 
A further attempt of Joseph to exchange the Austrian Nether- 
lands for Bavaria was met by Frederick with the establishment 
of the League of Princes in 1785, in which the 
T f h prin agUe tnree Protestant Electors of Saxony, Brandenburg, 
and Hanover, joined by the ecclesiastical Elector 
of Main, supported the rights of the German princes of the 
empire. In the following year, August 17, 1786, Frederick the 
Great died, having: raised his kingdom to the rank of a first-class 
European power, and increased its borders by the acquisition of 
Silesia in 1763, West Prussia in 1772, and Eastern Friesland in 
1744, besides smaller territories, so that, at his death, it num- 
bered a population of five million and a half. 

Joseph continued to pursue his course of unwise and im- 
petuous reform, attacking the church and the nobles, who were 
undoubtedly the cause of many abuses, but in this way stirring 
up hostility which he was not strong enough to master. 
Hungary became discontented, and the Netherlands rebellious. 
Th In the Netherlands, a country strongly attached 

Austrian to its ancient liberties, he made arbitrary changes 
Nether- in the civil government, in ecclesiastical organisa- 

lands. tion, in trade, and in the administration of justice, 

interfering with the rights and the liberties of towns and 
provinces. Louvain first rose in rebellion, then Brussels, 
Antwerp, Malines, and other cities. The recalling of the ob- 
noxious edicts did not produce peace, and when Joseph attempted 
to enforce them by an army the Netherlands declared them- 
selves independent. The failure of his benevolent designs was 
a terrible disappointment, which led to his early death, hastened 
also by his exertions in a war with Turkey, which he under- 
took in conjunction with Catherine II. He died on February 
20, 1790, at the age of forty-nine, a broken-hearted man, who, 
like the apprentice in Goethe's ballad, had flooded the world 
with waters, which he could not check when they became 
dangerous. He was succeeded by his brother Leopold II., 
whose history belongs to the period of the French Revolution. 



a.d. 1740-1783] ENGLAND 635 



ENGLAND, A.D. 1740-1783. 

We must now return to England, which we left in 1740 at 
the outbreak of the war of the Austrian Succession. The time 
demanded a minister who was not averse to war, England 
and Walpole was essentially a man of peace, and the 
France, moreover, was our traditional enemy, War. 
and Walpole was well disposed towards France. It is difficult 
to see what England had to do with the war, in which she 
might easily have remained neutral, as it was nothing but a 
struggle for the aggrandisement of Prussia at the expense of 
Austria, and France only took part in it because she happened 
at this time to be ill disposed towards Austria, as she joined 
Austria against Prussia in the Seven Years' War for similar in- 
sufficient reasons. But England regarded the war as an anti- 
Bourbon struggle, and even tried to negotiate peace between 
Prussia and Austria, as German powers who ought to unite 
against France. The rival of Walpole was Carteret, his very 
antithesis, in some repects the forerunner of Pitt, . 

anticipating his imperial policy. He despised the 
petty squabbles of England, and desired to act his part on the 
broader stage of Europe. He said, " What is it to me who is 
judge or who is bishop ? It is my business to make kings and 
emperors, and to maintain the balance of power in Europe." 
The result was that when Walpole resigned in 1742, he was 
succeeded by Carteret, assisted by Wilmington and Newcastle. 
The treaty of Breslau, which closed the first Silesian war, was 
the work of Carteret, and was thought in England to be the 
greatest blow which France had received since the accession of 
the house of Hanover. 

The battle of Dettingen in 1743 was a victory of the English 
and Austrians over the French. George II. took part in it, 
and it was the last occasion in which an English 
sovereign appeared in the field. On the death of nettine-en 
Wilmington, Pelham succeeded to his place. He 
resembled Walpole much as Carteret resembled Pitt. In this 
year the treaty of Worms was made to drive the Bourbons 
out of Italy, but it alarmed Frederick and was the cause of the 
second Silesian war. In 1744, the country be- 
came impatient of the foreign policy of Carteret, p e ihams 
who was now Lord Granville, and he was driven 
from office by Henry Pelham and his brother the Duke of 



636 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1740to 

Newcastle. The Broad Bottom Administration now came into 

office and lasted for ten years, from 1744 to 1754, consisting of 

Pelham, Newcastle, and Harrington. It was a coalition between 

all men who were supposed to possess either special ability or 

Battle of influence. In 1745 the battle of Fontenoy was 

Fontenoy fought, in which the English, under Cumberland, 

and the were defeated by the French under Marshal Saxe, 

Rebellion while the Colonial forces of New England took 

1745. Cape Breton. But the great event of the year was 

the landing of Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, 

in Scotland. He entered triumphantly into Edinburgh, defeated 

Sir John Cope at Prestonpans, marched into England as far as 

Derby, and then retreated. In 1746, in the battle of Falkirk, he 

worsted Hawley, but in the same year was routed at Culloden, 

after which the rebellion was put down by Cumberland, who 

earned the title of the Butcher. Before this, the treaty of 

Dresden had put an end to the war of the Austrian Succession, 

all parties being weary of the contest. Carteret, although he 

understood much of foreign affairs, did not penetrate deeply into 

their significance, and failed to see the far-reaching importance 

of the rise of Prussia. The war still continued between England 

and France, the French being defeated at sea off Cape Finisterre 

Treaty of an< ^ °^ Ushant, but in 1748 it was closed by 

Aix-la- the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle on the terms of 

Chapelle. statu quo, Madras being restored to Great Britain 

and Cape Breton to France. It was, however, only a truce, and 

even while the truce lasted the rivalry of England and France 

led to strife in East and West. 

In 1750, the French began to become powerful in India under 
Dupleix, who had been governor of Pondicherry since 1741. He 
The War in desired to build up a French empire in India on 
India and the lines of the ruins of the empire of the Moguls, 
America. which had fallen into decay since the death of 
Arungzebe in 1707. The struggle first raged round the suc- 
cession to the Carnatic, in which Mahomet Ali, the defeated 
candidate, was supported by Dupleix. In 1751, Arcot was cap- 
tured by Robert Clive, who had arrived in India as a clerk in 
1744. At this time, war broke out between the English and 
French colonists in North America. Imitating the policy of 
Dupleix, Duquesne, the French governor of Canada, built forts 
on Lake Erie and on the Ohio to exclude the English from the 
west. In the year 1754, Pelham died and was succeeded by his 
brother Newcastle, Pitt being paymaster-general. This meant 



a.d. 1783] ENGLAND 637 

the beginning of an imperial policy for England. Peace was 
made in India, but in America both countries sent help to their 
respective colonists, and in 1755 Braddock was surprised and 
defeated on his march to attack Fort Duquesne. In 1756, foreign 
affairs entered upon a new phase. The Seven Years' War broke 
out, being a part of the long struggle between Prussia and 
Austria for supremacy in Germany, but England now took the 
side of Prussia and France of Austria, France realising the 
danger of Prussian aggrandisement. 

It was not likely that, in these circumstances, Newcastle could 
hold his own against the ambition of Pitt, who felt, as he said, 
that he could save England, but no one else could. 
He was therefore obliged to resign, not being the p-it^" 1 
man to govern in these stormy times, and Devon- 
shire became prime minister, with Pitt as secretary of state. In 
this year, Calcutta was captured by Surajah Dowlah, and the 
tragedy of the Black Hole took place, a number of English 
being shut up in a little room of the fort, which proved the 
death of many. In 1757 Admiral Byng was executed for his 
failure to relieve Port Mahon, as Voltaire wittily said, " to 
encourage the other admirals " ; the Militia Act enforced a system 
of universal obligation to military service ; and, on June 23, 
Olive won the victory of Plassey. Meanwhile, however, Devon- 
shire and Pitt had been dismissed from office. But, though 
George II. disliked Pitt, and Newcastle controlled the House of 
Commons, Pitt had the nation at his back, and a coalition had 
to be made at last between Pitt and Newcastle, Pitt having 
charge of the war, Newcastle of Parliament. From 1757 to 
1761, England was governed by a strong ministry, and these 
were years of unforgotten glory. This period was broken by 
the death of George II. 

George III., who succeeded in 1760, and reigned till 1820, 
was, above everything else, an English sovereign. He desired 
not only to reign, but to rule ; and, at his succes- 
sion, he conceived a dislike to the forcible methods Accession of 
of Pitt and to the war, which he did not think 
it was for the interests of England to continue. His friend, 
Bute, was made secretary of state, and when Pitt, at one of the 
first councils, proposed that war should be declared against 
Spain, and the Spanish colonies in America be seized by 
England, which would certainly have been of advantage to the 
world, he was defeated by his colleagues, and resigned. A 
ministry was formed which comprised Bute, Grenville, Egremont, 



638 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1740 to 

and Granville ; but war had to be declared against Spain, in 
consequence of the existence of a new family compact between 
(Spain and France. The conquests of Pitt's ministry were con- 
tinued. We took Martinique, Grenada, Santa Lucia, and St. 
Vincent from the French, Havana and Manila from Spain. 
However, the war was concluded by the peace of 

of h pSs aty Paris in 1763 ' which ' like the treat y o£ West- 

phalia and the peace of Utrecht, forms an epoch 
in the international history of the world. This peace enor- 
mously enlarged the English colonial empire. In America we 
were secured in the possession of Nova Scotia, Canada, and 
Cape Breton ; in the West Indies of Grenada, St. Vincent, 
Dominica, and Tobago ; in Africa of Senegal ; in Europe of 
Minorca. From Spain we received Florida, Spain being com- 
pensated by the possession of Louisiana in a secret treaty with 
France. On the other hand, we restored to France Belleisle, 
Martinique, Guadaloupe, Goree, and certain towns in India, 
abandoned the claims which we had put forward to Louisiana, 
and gave back to Spain Cuba and the Philippines. The French 
retained their rights of fishing off the coast of Newfoundland. 
The war between Austria and Prussia was finished by the 
treaty of Hubertsburg, Prussia retaining Silesia. After this 
peace, though it was not dishonourable to England, Bute was 
forced by public opinion to resign. He was not a bad minister, 
but he was regarded as the embodiment of the personal govern- 
ment of the sovereign, which the country was not prepared to 

accept. The ministry of Bute was succeeded by 
misteria t\ VA f, f the triumvirate, consisting of Grenville, 

Egremont, and Halifax. Grenville was the brother- 
in-law of Pitt, and the brother of Earl Temple, the father of the 
Grenville who was a powerful minister in the time of the 
French Revolution and Napoleon. Shortly after this the place 
of Egremont, who died, was taken by Bedford, who became 
president of the council, while Sandwich was made secretary 
of state. Parties were very complicated during the early 
portions of this reign, until they were consolidated under the 
strong hand of the younger Pitt. They depended rather upon 
personal connections than on questions of principle. There 
were the Grenville Whigs, the Rockingham Whigs, the Bedford 
Whigs, the difference between whom it is difficult to define, 
and the Radicals under John Wilkes and Home Tooke. John 
Wilkes caused a great disturbance at the time, but his services 
to liberalism were small. He, however, put an end to the 



a.d. 1783] ENGLAND 639 

illegal use of general warrants, in which an arrest was ordered of 
the committers of an offence without the names of the persons 
to he arrested being mentioned. He continued to be a source 
of contention till he was elected member of Parliament and 
Lord Mayor of London in 1774. 

Far more important was the Stamp Act, passed by Grenville 
in 176-5, by which the imposition of stamps on certain classes 
of documents was extended to America, the Ameri- 
can colonies being thus taxed without their consent ; . f * sfcam P 
for they were not represented in Parliament. It 
was an unwise, but not altogether an unreasonable measure, 
because the colonies were an expense to the mother country, 
who had the burden of defending them, but it produced serious 
riots across the Atlantic, and was repealed in 1766. Pitt, who 
was far beyond his age in the assertion of liberal principles, 
although it is difficult to say to what section of Liberals he 
belonged, being, indeed, above party, made a great speech in 
favour of repeal. The ministry saved their face by passing a 
Declaration Act, which asserted the right of the English Parlia- 
ment to tax the Americans. The repeal of the Stamp Act was 
the work of Rockingham, who succeeded Grenville in 1765, his 
colleagues being Grafton and Conway. His party included the 
great name of Edmund Burke, and was more liberal, and more 
in sympathy with what in later times have been known as 
liberal principles, than the other section of the Whigs. During 
his ministry the principle of general warrants was condemned 
by the Commons. 

Rockingham was disliked by the King, and was attacked by 
the Bedford Whigs on one side, and by Pitt on the other. He 
was therefore dismissed by the King as not 
having sufficient power in Parliament to govern j^lt 
the country, and Pitt, now created Earl of 
Chatham, was put in his place. Chatham was perhaps the 
greatest minister that England has ever seen. He possessed 
unrivalled eloquence and a commanding character ; the House 
of Commons quailed before him. Some of his speeches spoken 
extempore, and in reply, are masterpieces of English literature. 
Though too fond, perhaps, of representation, he embodied to the 
full the dignity of his country, and the importance of public 
affairs. Grafton and Conway remained with him in office, but 
Charles Townshend was unhappily his chancellor of the ex- 
chequer. Pitt had from his youth been subject to gout, and 
soon after taking office fell ill, and was unable to attend to 



640 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1740 to 

public affairs. During this interregnum, Townshend, in want of 
money, passed an act imposing import duties on certain com- 
modities imported into America — glass, red and white lead, 
paper, and especially tea ; a trifling matter which produced tre- 
mendous consequences. This renewed attempt to tax the 
colonies caused a fresh storm in America, and Townshend, 
having clone this irreparable mischief without the knowledge of 
his chief, died, and was succeeded by North. When Chatham 
recovered in 1768, he disapproved of what had been done, and 
resigned, as his colleagues did not agree with him, and Grafton 
and North took his place. During this time, events occurred 
at home which proved of great importance, but were very little 
observed. Hargreaves invented the spinning- jenny ; Cook made 
his first voyage, discovering the antipodes ; the Mysore War was 
waged in India. The letters of Junius, and the struggle of 
Wilkes with Parliament obtained far more attention, and re- 
sulted in the birth of English Radicalism, which took a long 
time growing to manhood. 

Far more important than all this was the conversion of the 
American colonies into an independent state. The eastern coast 
The North °f North America had been discovered in 1496 
American and 1584, but permanent settlements were not 
Colonies. established till the seventeenth century — Virginia 
in 1607, New Plymouth in 1620, Maryland between 1625 and 
1633, being colonised largely by Puritans or Catholics who had 
been driven from their country by religious persecution. After 
the Restoration, Carolina was founded in 1662, and Pennsylvania 
in 1681 by William Penn, who called his capital Philadelphia, 
the home of brotherly love. Canada, discovered by the English 
in 1497, was first colonised by the French, who about 1668 sent 
Jesuit missionaries into the valleys of the Mississippi. At the 
outbreak of the Seven Years' War, the English colonies in North 
America were thirteen in number — Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maryland, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Georgia, North and 
South Carolina. In Canada, the French numbered perhaps 
52,000, their chief towns being Quebec and Montreal on the 
liver St. Lawrence. The French conceived the idea of con- 
necting Canada on the north and Louisiana on the south with 
a series of forts so as to cut off the English from the great 
lakes, and from the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi, 
and the name of Washington first appears as commander of a 
force sent to prevent this action. In 1759, Quebec, defended by 



a.d. 1783] ENGLAND 641 

the gallant Montcalm, was captured by Wolfe. Both generals 

were killed in the action on the Plains of Abraham, which 

resulted in the fall of Montreal and in the conquest of Canada, 

secured to England by the peace of Paris in 1763. 

In 1770, after the events which we before related,- North, a 

devoted servant of George III., became prime minister and 

chancellor of the exchequer, and the dispute with 

America entered into a new phase. Townshend's m e „?? on 
, . • . a ■ Tea Snips, 

taxes on imports into America except tea were 

repealed. But in 1773 the tea duty was readjusted in a way 
which — while actually lowering it— implied a reassertion of 
the English claim to tax. Hence, spurning the "bribe" of 
cheap tea, a number of colonists, disguised as Mohawk Indians, 
boarded the tea ships as they lay in Boston Harbour, and 
emptied the tea chests into the sea. Thereupon, by the 
" Intolerable Acts," Parliament closed the port of Boston, 
removed the colonial government to Salem, suspended the 
charter of Massachusetts, and sanctioned the trial in English 
courts of offences alleged to have been committed in the 
colony. The Americans — outraged and insulted by the nature 
of their punishment, and irritated by the Quebec Act, which 
granted religious freedom to the Roman Catholics of Canada, 
and included within its frontier districts claimed by other 
colonies — issued a Declaration of Rights in a Congress repre- 
senting every colony but Georgia, and announced the cessation 
of commercial intercourse with England until their grievances 
should be redressed. 

In 1775 the first blood was shed, English troops winning in 
the skirmish at Lexington, but the colonists taking Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point. At a second Congress even 
Georgia was represented, and Washington was 0u ™ reak 
appointed to command the American forces. The 
-English won a Pyrrhic victory at Bunker's Hill, repulsed an 
invasion of Canada, and rejected the so-called " Olive Branch 
Petition " for a peace on the colonists' terms. But in March 
1776 Howe evacuated Boston, and on July 4 the Declaration 
of Independence, one of the most important documents in 
history, was signed, giving birth to a new world. Howe, 
indeed, presently took New York, and Cornwallis drove 
Washington out of New Jersey, but in 1777 a projected 
combined movement by the English generals broke clown, 
and in October 16 Burgoyne surrendered to the enemy at Sara- 
toga. This proved to be the turning-point of the war, for it 

2 s 



642 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1740 to 

decided France to intervene next year and aid the colonists by 
land and sea — a policy not more invaluable to her allies than fatal 

France to herself. This altered the position of Chatham, 

joins in who received his death stroke while he was de- 

the War. nouncing American independence in the House 
of Lords. The French alliance had been mainly brought about 
by the efforts of Benjamin Franklin, one of the greatest of 
Americans, who was born in 1706, and lived to help in creating 
the American constitution. He invented the lightning conductor, 
and, it is said, " tore from kings the sceptre, and the bolt from 
heaven." In 1779, Spain joined the coalition against Great 
Britain, and in 1780 an "Armed Neutrality" was 

Neutrality formed to oppose England, by Russia, Denmark, 
and Sweden, which laid down that merchant ships 
may trade along belligerent coasts ; that the neutral flag covers 
all goods, excepting contraband ; and that no blockade need be 
respected which is not efficient. In 1781 the Armed Neutrality 
was joined by Holland, Prussia, and Austria, so that we had 
the whole world against us ; and in this year the war in 
America came to an end by the surrender of the English at 
Yorktown. Early in 1782 Minorca was captured, as well as 
a number of West Indian islands. North now resigned, and, 
though George still refused to make peace, he was obliged to 
accept a liberal ministry formed by a fusion of the Rockingham 
and Chatham parties. 

Rockingham became first lord of the treasury, with Fox 

and Shelburne secretaries of state, and Burke paymaster of 

the forces. The beginning of the new ministry was marked by 

the decisive victory of Rodney over the French 

Victorv S * n ^ e West Indies, under Admiral de Grasse. 
At home its course was signalised by various 
liberal measures. Ireland obtained legislative independence 
by the repeal of the act of 1719, and of the Statute of Drog- 
heda, passed in 1494, known as Poynings' Law, in so far as 
it gave the English Privy Council authority over the Irish 
Parliament. This home rule Parliament, which lasted till the 
Act of Union, and is generally known as Grattan's 

Parliament Parliament, was an entire success. The ministry 
also reformed the Civil List, abolished useless 
offices and secret pensions, and limited the pension list. In 
this way, a serious blow was struck at parliamentary corrup- 
tion. Further steps were taken in the same direction by 
depriving revenue officers of the franchise, and excluding 



a.d. 1783] ENGLAND 643 

government contractors from Parliament. Rockingham having 
died, Shelburne became First Lord of the Treasury. Shelburne, 
who represented the Chatham party, was in favour of peace 
and of free trade, but was disliked by his colleagues, and was 
called " the Jesuit " by the king. Fox and Burke refused to 
serve under him. William Pitt, the son of Chatham, became 
chancellor of the exchequer at the age of twenty- 
three. The war still continued, and Portugal, w ar ° 
our traditional ally, joined the Armed Neutrality 
against us, but at last, on November 30, 1782, the independence 
of the United States was acknowledged. 

It now only remained to make peace, which was done in the 
peace of Versailles, which consisted of four treaties, the first of 
which, between England and the United States, The Treaty 
acknowledged their independence ; the second, of Ver- 
between England and France, annulled some of sailles. 
the English gains in America and Africa by the treaty of Paris 
in 1763 ; the third, between England and Spain, restored Minorca 
and Florida to the latter country ; and the fourth, between 
England and Holland, which was not signed till May 20, 1784, 
was drawn up on the principle of the status quo. Meanwhile, 
Fox and North had again become ministers. Although bitter 
enemies for so many years, they had joined together to 
oppose Shelburne, Portland being the nominal head of their 
unnatural coalition. Pitt thundered against it, William 
and had little difficulty in overthrowing it, which Pitt, the 
he did by defeating Fox's bill for the government Younger, 
of India, which was really a wise and statesmanlike measure. 
At the end of 1783, the king forcibly dismissed his ministers, 
and William Pitt, at the age of twenty-four, accepted the task of 
forming a ministry. He found himself supported by a minority 
in Parliament, and, although he knew that the country was with 
him, and the Parliament had sat since 1780, during which time 
four separate ministries had held office, he refused to dissolve 
until he had obtained a majority. The Mutiny Act was passed 
in 1784 by a majority of one. Then Pitt dissolved, and found 
himself firmly supported by the new. Parliament. His ministry 
therefore really began in 1784. It forms a new epoch in the 
history of England. 



CHAPTER X. 

PITT'S MINISTRY, A.D. 1783-1801— THE FRENCH 
REVOLUTION, A.D. 1789-1795. 

The ministry of "William Pitt, which lasted from 1783 to 1801 
and from 1804 to 1806, is one of the most remarkable in 
English history, indeed scarcely paralleled in the history of 
the world. That a boy of four and twenty should become 
virtual ruler of a great country, with a narrow-minded and 
jealous sovereign, against an opposition unrivalled in eloquence 
and ability, led by Fox and Burke, — at a time, too, when that 
country was in deep degradation, ruined in finances, without a 
friend in Europe, divested of its richest colonies, shunned for 
the manner in which it lost them — that he should quell corrup- 
tion, master his monarch, and, in a few years, raise England to 
be the arbiter of Europe, — has.no parallel in these pages ; but this 
was the work of Pitt, during the first ten years of ministry. As 
an orator he was inferior to his father, but only to him — few, 
perhaps none, of his speeches belong to English literature, but 
they swayed those to whom they were delivered ; he was un- 
rivalled as a parliamentary leader, and disdained the bribery 
which had been employed since the days of Walpole. He was 
stern and reserved, because dignity was necessary to defend his 
youth ; but he was beloved by his friends and was a fascinating 
companion. He had a mastery of language derived from the 
careful classical training given him by his father ; he had great 
self-control in argument, being in this respect a contrast to 
Fox and Burke. If he was deficient in original ideas, he had 
the power of assimilating the ideas of others, and was, in many 
respects, before his age. A student of Adam Smith, he was an 

■c- .„, advocate of free trade, and gained the confidence 

Financial ■ i i tt n 

and Com- an d support or the commercial classes. His first 

mercial measure was financial, because he knew that no 

Reforms. country could be strong unless it could meet its 

expenses. By wise legislation, he put an end to smuggling, 

raised loans honestly, abolished lottery tickets, reformed the 

644 



a.d. 1783-1801] PITT'S MINISTRY 645 

post office, reconstructed the Board of Trade, attempted to 
reduce the national debt — which was afterwards greatly in- 
creased by war — and consolidated the duties of customs and 
excise. He was one of the first advocates of parliamentary 
reform, of the emancipation of the Catholics, and of the 
abolition of slavery ; but he did not press these questions further 
than the circumstances of the time would allow. He knew 
that no measure could be passed without the formation of a 
national opinion in favour of it. He did much for the develop- 
ment of the constitution, and was the founder of Constitu- 
modern parliamentary and ministerial govern- tional De- 
ment. He defeated both the attempt of the velopment. 
Whig oligarchy to force themselves upon the king, and the 
king's desire to make ministers responsible solely to himself. 
He asserted the necessity of a prime minister, declaring that 
" there must be an avowed and real minister, possessing the chief 
weight in the Council and the principal place in the confidence 
of the king." His life was pure and honest in an age stained 
with immorality and intrigue ; he loved his country with a 
devotion to which he sacrificed health and fortune ; and he loved 
his friends as he loved his country. 

In the general election of 1784, a hundred and sixty of the 
Opposition lost their seats. After vain attempts to reform 
Parliament and successful efforts to establish a 
sound system of finance, Pitt set himself, in 1785, Free Trade 
to establish free trade between England and 
Ireland, which the Irish Parliament rejected, owing to the 
blunders of the English House of Commons. In this year, the 
steam-engine was first introduced into factories, and this com- 
pleted the industrial revolution which had i^e 
gradually substituted a system of productive Industrial 
labour in factories for home industry — a change Revolution. 
necessary for the increase of wealth, but in many respects 
disastrous. Watt had invented the steam-engine in 1769, the 
year of Pitt's birth; Hargreaves the spinning-jenny in 1770; 
Arkwright the water frame in 1771 ; Crompton the mule in 
1779; Cartwright the power loom in 1785. In 1786, Pitt, in 
the teeth of his colleagues, and with the reluctant and cynical 
consent of Lord Carmarthen, the foreign minister, established 
a commercial treaty between England and France on a basis 
of free trade, so far as he was able to enforce its principles. 
It was a far-seeing measure, which would have produced power- 
ful results if it had not been rendered inoperative by the 



646 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1783-1801 

revolution which broke out ten years later. But the greatest 
work of Pitt was the establishment of the triple alliance be- 
tween England, Holland, and Prussia in 1788. 

Air a ce* 6 ^ ^ ie access i° n °f Pit* *° power, the states of 
Europe, although united against England, were at 
war with each other. Sweden was at war with Denmark ; Russia 
and Austria were united against Turkey. Pitt saw that the 
only secure foundation of civilisation was peace, and he set 
himself to bring it about. Assisted by Harris, with consummate 
skill he established in Holland the authority of the Statholder, 
which he knew to be more favourable to England than to 
France, and secured the adhesion of the brother of the princess 
of Orange, Frederick William II. of Prussia, to his plans. 
Through the British ambassador at Copenhagen he brought 
about the peace of Wenelo between Gustavus III. and Denmark ; 
he induced Austria to make terms with Turkey at Sistowa on 
August 4, 1791, and Russia to do the same at Jassy on January 
19, 1792. When the negotiations of Sistowa were completed, 
Keith, the English negotiator, boasted that he had placed the 
peace of Europe on a firm foundation for a generation ; but in a 
little more than a year after the signing of this peace revolu- 
tionary France had declared war against England and Holland, 
and these bright hopes were dashed to the ground. Pitt, although 
he did his best for peace, had to be a war minister for the rest 
of his life, and he forfeited the aureole of glory with which the 
first ten years of his government had invested him. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, A.D. 1789-1795. 

It is vain to seek for the causes of the French Revolution, a 
catastrophe which was foreseen by no one. These secular 
catastrophes, — -the fall of the Roman Empire, the establishment 
of Christianity as the religion of the empire, the Reformation, — 
spring from causes which lie beyond our ken. The Revolution 
was anticipated by none ; the monarchy of France rose majestic 
and secure amongst the thrones of Europe. Prince Henry of 
Prussia, an accomplished statesman, brother of Frederick the 
Great, settled in Paris just before the outbreak, intending to live 
there for the rest of his life ; Carmarthen regarded France as 
the most dangerous enemy of England ; Pitt desired to make 
a friend of her, but had no idea of the weakness of the French 
monarchy. The wretched state of the peasantry, the privileges 



a.d. 1789-1795] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 647 

of the priests and the nobles, the extravagance of the court, 
the corruption of morals, the absence of popular government, 
the spread of subversive ideas both in religion and in politics, 
may help to explain the calamities which ensued, but cannot 
be regarded as sufficient cause for them. The destruction of 
the French monarchy was as unexpected as the domination of 
Napoleon which followed it, and we must now direct our atten- 
tion to these extraordinary events. 

France was burdened by a debt, begun by the extravagance of 
Louis XIV., increased by that of Louis XV. and his mistresses, 
so that it now amounted to 4,000,000,000 francs. 

This burden had to be borne by the middle and Financial 

Distress. 
the lower classes, for the nobles were free from 

taxes and the clergy only gave what they pleased. The reign 

of Louis XV. had degraded the monarchy, and when he died of 

smallpox on May 10, 1774, his body was carried to Saint Denis 

among the jeers and the invectives of the populace. He was 

succeeded by his grandson Louis, born on August 23, 1754, 

who, on the death of his father in 1765, had received the title 

of Dauphin at the age of eleven, and, at the age of sixteen, had 

married Marie Antoinette, the youngest daughter of the Empress 

Maria Theresa, who was more than a year younger. Louis was 

pure, pious, and domestic, entirely free from the . 

vices of his predecessors, but he had not the 0U1S 

strength to control the storms amongst which he lived. He 

was indolent in public affairs, cared more for the chase and 

the work of a locksmith, and, although well read and serious, 

was awkward and shy, and excited rather ridicule than respect 

in the life of a court. He had two brothers, the Oomte de 

Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII. , a man of considerable 

ability and learning, who, after spending much of his life in 

exile, continued with caution and moderation to keep himself 

on the throne from his restoration till his death, and the Comte 

d'Artois, afterwards Charles X., of fine appearance and manners, 

whose obstinate bigotry brought the legitimate monarchy to an 

end in July 1830. The chosen friend of the queen was the 

princess of Lamballe, of the house of Savoy- 

Carignan, charming but frivolous. The queen, so ™arie 

much abused, had few faults. She was disliked 

really, as Louis XVIII. tells us in his memoirs, for her domestic 

virtues. For two hundred years the people of Paris had been 

accustomed to see a queen living piously in retirement, and the 

festivities of the court led by a mistress ; they did not under- 



648 A GENERAL HISTORY U.d. 1789 to 

stand a woman who was both wife and queen, and, in the absence 
of mistresses whom they could abuse, fastened their reproaches 
on the only woman whom they saw. Serious attempts to reform 
the administration were made, principally by 
at Reform Turgot, but failed by the opposition of the court, 
and the state of the finances became worse, for 
public as well as private indebtedness is always the prelude to 
disaster. Necker, a banker from Geneva, who was minister of 
finance from 1776 to 1781, could do but little, and Oalonne, who 
held the office from 1783 to 1787, hastened the catastrophe. 
The alliance with the American colonies, which involved France 
in war with England from 1778 to 1783, was disastrous to France 
in two ways. It largely increased her debt, and, by helping to 
establish a republic across the Atlantic, supplied an example 
for a similar change in France. The pressing problem was how 
to avert the bankruptcy which Necker in his formal exposure of 
the financial situation had shown to be impending. Calonne 
summoned the Notables of the kingdom to give advice, without 
effect. At his fall, Necker was recalled, and recommended 
the only possible plan — an appeal to the people 
General 63 " tlll ' ou g l1 the States-General. This national Parlia- 
ment had not met since 1614 — 175 years before, 
when the disaster which now threatened France had not begun 
to arise. It consisted of three orders, the nobles, the clergy, 
and the people, called the Third Estate, each voting separately. 
They met at Versailles on May 5, 1769, the Third Estate 
being doubled in number, a characteristic sign of the age. As 
Sieyes said, the Third Estate, which had been nothing and 
desired to be something, was now everything. No arrange- 
ments had been made as to whether the three orders should vote 
separately or together, or as to how they should verify their 
The credentials. Confusion rapidly followed, and, on 

National the third of June, the Third Estate declared itself 
Assembly. to be the National Assembly, and to be ready to 
receive any members of the other estates who might desire to 
join it. 

Separate rooms had been provided for the clergy and the 
nobles but not for the Third Estate, which was to use the hall of 
general assembly, so after the royal sitting on June 23, in which 
the king laid before the States-General a plan of constitution, 
when they were told to disperse, the commons remained sitting 
where they were. Mirabean, who put himself at the head of 
the Republican pai'ty, said to the court official who came to 



a.d. 1795] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 649 

expel them, " Tell your master that we are here by the power 
of the people, and that we can only be driven out by bayonets." 
At another time, being kept by a pretext from their own hall, 
they met in a tennis court, and took an oath never to separate. 
Among the nobles and higher clergy who joined the commons 
were Talleyrand-Perigord, bishop of Autun, Gregoire, bishop of 
Blois, the Duke d'Aiguillon, Counts Montmorency and Clermont- 
Tonnerre, Larochefoucauld, Lally Tollendal, Latour Maubourg, 
and Philip, duke of Orleans, a prince of the blood, father of 
Louis Philippe, later king of the French. The king attempted 
to defend himself by summoning troops to his aid, but he had 
to depend mainly on those who were not of French blood — Swiss, 
Germans, Flemings, and Walloons. Mirabeau took the unfor- 
tunate line of urging their removal from the capital, and Louis, 
with weakness, submitted. Camille Desmoulins gave the signal 
for a national rising in Paris, and a National Guard i^e 
was formed out of the citizens. Necker was dis- National 
missed, and on Sunday, July 12, his bust and that Guard, 
of Orleans were carried in triumph around the streets. On 
July 14 the Bastille was stormed, its commandant being foully 
murdered. The anniversary is still celebrated by the The 
French as the birthday of liberty, but it is rather Bastille 
the birthday of anarchy. Louis and his govern- Stormed, 
ment could not distinguish between reform and revolution. The 
first was admirable, and enlisted the sympathies of Europe ; the 
second was dangerous, and should have been severely repressed 
at once. The Bastille was harmless, and had long ceased to be 
an instrument of royal autocracy. When destroyed, it was found 
to contain seven prisoners — five malefactors, and two murderers. 
Its destruction was a disgrace rather than a glory. Two days 
later, the king went to Paris to show his sympathy for the 
people ; he was received by the National Guard, commanded by 
Lafayette, who had served in America, and the tricolour, the 
red, white, and blue cockade, which united the colours of Paris 
with those of the monarchy, was adopted for the first time. 

In Paris more victims fell, being hung upon the iron bars 
which supported the lanterns, their heads being cut off and 
carried on pikes. At Versailles, the National Assembly began 
to draw up a constitution, which it had no authority to do, 
being summoned only to redress grievances, and to grant 
money, and enacted measures which showed an entire absence 
of political wisdom. A declaration of rights was drawn up, 
which led to an abstract discussion, whereas a declaration of 



650 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1789 to 

duties would have been more sensible. On August 4, a great 
sacrifice was made of all feudal rights, which, however self- 
sacrificing and patriotic, threw the whole country into con- 
fusion. In these matters, Mirabeau was the 
leader, a man of great intellectual force, but 
of abandoned character, whose ability and importance have 
been much overrated. It is not possible that he should have 
saved the French monarchy, and his opinions were deeply 
influenced by the money he received for expressing them. At 
The King the beginning of October, it was determined to 
taken to bring the king to Paris, and a mob of men and 

Paris. women, imperfectly controlled by Lafayette and 

the National Guard, marched to Versailles for that purpose. 
It is supposed that the cluke of Orleans was the originator of 
this outrage, and that he would not have been sorry if the king 
had perished in the riots, and, when the royal family were 
established in the bare and ill-furnished Tuileries, they were 
prisoners for the rest of their unhappy lives. The National 
Assembly also came to Paris, holding its sittings in the royal 
riding school, by the side of the Tuileries garden, called the 
" Manege." It split up into parties, designated by the places in 
which they sat. The conservatives sat on the right of the presi- 
dent, the liberals on the left, the centre was called the Marsh, 
and the highest benches, on which the radicals sat, gave them the 
name of the Mountain. The large galleries were full of strangers, 
who were kept in little order and injuriously affected the de- 
liberations. Outside the Assembly were debating clubs held in 
deserted monasteries, from which they derived their names. The 
most powerful of these were the Jacobins, who 
Jacobins assembled in the halls of the Dominicans in the 
rue St. Jacques, from which came the name since 
given to radicals in all countries. The surrender of feudal rights 
on August 4 caused anarchy rather than peace. Through- 
out the country, the chateaux, the country houses of nobles, 
were attacked and burned, largely for the purpose of destroying 
evidence of feudal obligations and of debts. In the Assembly, 
now called La Constituante (the Constitutional Assembly), because 
it was really occupied in drawing up a constitution, this im- 
portant work slowly continued, with long speeches read from 
manuscripts, and frequent interruptions from the galleries. In 
May, 1790, it was agreed that war could only be declared by 
the nation on the proposal of the king and with his sanction. 
This was caused by the threat of war between England and 



ad. 1795] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 651 

Spain in the question of Nootka Sound, Spain laying claim to 
the whole western coast of America on the ground of conquest. 
France was requested to support Spain on the 
ground of the family compact, and Mirabeau was, g 00 , a 
at first, in favour of the project, but Eliot, a 
school friend of Mirabeau, was despatched to avert the danger, 
and, at the expense of several thousand pounds, induced 
Mirabeau to change his opinions and to counsel peace. The 
Ministers were in great want of money ; to obtain it, they 
confiscated the property of the church, valued at Church 
four hundred millions, giving for it bonds or Property 
assignats, on which they promised to pay in- Confiscated. 
terest. Eventually the interest was not paid, the assignats being 
worthless, and national bankruptcy ensued. 

The object of the leaders of the Revolution was to create a 
new France. She had been made a powerful monarchy by the 
union of several provinces, differing in history, The New 
race, laws, and language ; welded into a whole Constitu- 
by the powerful hand of Louis XIV., but their Non- 
diversity remaining a source of strength. On a sudden this 
was all changed. France was divided into 83 departments, 
called after rivers, mountains, and other natural objects, — into 
574 arrondissements, 1760 cantons, 44,000 municipalities: 
weights, measures, and coinage were not only made uniform 
but constructed on a decimal system, then entirely new to the 
world. Paris remained a political whole, but was divided into 
48 sections, each with a municipality, a council, and a mayor. 
The nobles and the clergy were entirely reformed. All titles, 
arms, liveries, orders, together with the right of primogeni- 
ture, were abolished ; everyone was called citizen ; by the civil 
constitution of the clergy, every priest was bound to take an 
oath of allegiance to the state, -and the many who refused 
either left France or kept in hiding. On July 14, 1790, the 
anniversary of the destruction of the Bastille, a festival of the 
Federation was held to celebrate these changes, and, on April 9, 
1791, Mirabeau, who had taken a large share in 
making them, died at the age of forty-two. Some Mirabeau 
have supposed that if he had lived he could have 
saved the monarchy, but this is probably erroneous. Long 
before this — indeed, immediately after the destruction of the 
Bastille — crowds of noble and wealthy French families had left 
their country to seek safety in foreign parts. Many came to 
England, where they lived in poor lodgings and earned a scanty 



652 A GENERAL HISTORY "u.d. 1789 to 

living by teaching or other similar occupations. They were 
assisted by the government and by benevolent persons, but 
they left no mark upon us as the Huguenots had done, nor did 
they found any families amongst us. 

The pious king could not perform his Easter devotions under 
a juring priest, and desired to pass the holy season in St. 
Cloud, as he had done in previous years. He 
. ® lg was forcibly prevented by the people, and re- 

alised that he was a prisoner. He determined to 
escape, and, after long preparations, left Paris on the night 
of June 20, spending the longest day of the year in a journey 
to the frontier, where he hoped to find faithful troops, and 
to receive the assistance of his brother-in-law, the emperor. 
In consequence of a series of accidents, any one of which might 
have been prevented, he was arrested at Varennes, brought 
back to Paris, and made a close prisoner in the Tuileries, where 
he remained confined till his death. A cry naturally arose 
for the abolition of monarchy and the creation of a republic, 
but a riot in support of this, which took place on the second 
anniversary of the Federation, on July 14, 1791, was put down 
by force. The constitution was now completed, and was 
presented' to the king on September 3, 1791. After ten days' 
hesitation he signed it on September 11, by the advice of the 
emperor, and the National Assembly (the Constituante), having 
finished its work, dissolved. 

The Constituante was followed by the Legislative, which 
met on October 1, 1791. Before its dissolution, it had corn- 
ice mitted the folly of ordaining that no member 
Legislative of it should be capable of election to its successor, 
Assembly. which was consequently deprived of the assistance 
of many of the ablest men in France. In the new Assembly, 
these were the main parties — the Feuillants, who wished loyally 
Feuillants to maintain the constitution, and from whom the 
Jacobins, king chose his ministers, Lafayette, Barnave, and 
Girondists, others ; the Jacobins, led by Robespierre, who 
desired a republic, and of whom the Cordeliers, led by Dan ton, 
Marat, and Desmoulins, were an extreme wing ; and the Giron- 
dists, consisting largely of the deputies of the Gironde, contain- 
ing the ablest heads in the Assembly — Vergniaud, Brissot, 
Condorcet, Barbaroux, and others — who agreed largely with 
the Jacobins, but were animated by a spirit of moderation, and 
eventually were destroyed, as moderate men generally are in 
troublous times. 



a.d. 1795] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 653 

Europe now began to bestir itself. The numbers of emigrants 
largely increased, and wherever they went they stirred up the 
governments who gave them hospitality to the Europe 
employment of force. Austria and Prussia were and the 
especially active, and to meet these new dangers Revolution. 
the king replaced the weak Feuillants by a ministry of the more 
active Girondists, of whom Roland and Dumouriez were promi- 
nent members. Leopold II. died suddenly in the midst of his 
plans, and was succeeded by Francis II., a contemptible sovereign, 
whose narrowness and bigotry are well known. Against him 
and the king of Prussia France declared war 
on March 18, 1792. But in this fatal year JJ^^* 
passions were violently stirred on both sides. 
It was determined to celebrate the third anniversary of the 
fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1792, by the assembly of so 
called Federates from every part of France, the Jacobins taking 
care that those chosen from Marseilles and other parts of 
Provence should be especially violent. The Marseillaise, now 
the national hymn of France, celebrated the march of these 
ruffians to the capital. In order to frighten the king, the 
Girondists, led by Petion, induced the people to assault the 
Tuileries on June 20. The king, the queen, and the dauphin 
were imprisoned in their palace for several hours, and made to 
wear red caps of liberty as the drunken crowds of men and 
women surged by. As this was not enough, the Jacobins, led 
by Danton, sent a wild throng with murderous intention into 
the palace on August 10. The royal family were induced 
to leave their home by the advice of the treacherous Petion, 
and to take refuge in the reporters' box of the Assembly, 
leaving their faithful Swiss guard to be foully murdered and 
brutally abused. From this they were removed to the tower 
of the Temple, which they did not leave except for the scaffold. 
Power now came into the hands of the Cordeliers — Danton, 
Hebert, Maillard, and Billaud-Varennes. Numbers of Royalists 
had been imprisoned, and it was determined to strike terror 
into their party by deliberate murder. For five days, from 
September 2 to September 7, seven thousand of The 
so-called aristocrats were murdered at the prison September 
doors by the most brutal of the Federates, who Massacres, 
were well paid for their work. The only excuse could be that 
when foreign enemies were threatening Paris it was necessary 
to destroy all those who might sympathise with them. 

In the meantime the municipal government of Paris had 



654 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1789 to 

completely changed. By a series of violent actions, the sections 
of Paris came to be represented by a small number of ferocious 
and abandoned men ready for any deed of outrage. It was 
with their assistance that the massacres of September had been 
carried out. With the fall of law and order the Legislative 
Assembly came to an end, and there was elected in its place a 
The National Convention of seven hundred and forty- 

National nine members, which, on September 27, declared 
Convention, the kingdom at an end, and set up a republic, 
one and indivisible, in its place. The Convention was the 
scene of a struggle between the Jacobins and the Girondists, 
the one represented by Robespierre, Danton, and Marat, the 
other by Brissot, Roland, and Vergniaud. Before the election 
of the Convention, the invasion of France by Prussian and 
Austrian troops, under the command of the duke of Brunswick, 
had begun. The duke issued a most unwise proclamation 
threatening destruction to those who offered violence to the 
king and the royal family, language certain to rouse the 
passions of the Parisian mob and to ruin all chances of safety 
for the monarchy. Longwy fell on August 26, 1792, and the 
surrender of other towns followed, but the cannon 
Valmv engagement of Yalmy on September 19 showed 

that the invasion had no chance of success, and 
Brunswick, having done all the harm he could to the cause 
which he had come to defend, left the king to his fate. What 
was to be done with Louis ? There was no doubt that he was 
guilty of calling in a foreign army to protect him : what would 
have happened in England if Charles I. had allowed a French 
army to invade England for his defence ? Innocence and purity 
of character could not excuse culpable weakness ; it is through 
weakness rather than through vice that men, families, and 
communities fall. Louis was tried, and, out of 721 members 
of the Convention present, 681 declared him 
o^theKiner £> uu ty, while in a second vote 361, including his 
cousin, the duke of Orleans, condemned him to 
immediate death, 72 to death with delay, 281 to life-long 
imprisonment. He was executed on January 21, 1793. His 
last words on the scaffold were " Frenchmen, I die innocent. 
That I declare before God. I forgive my enemies. May my 
blood never fall on France ! " 

The death of the king, which excited horror throughout 
Europe, was followed by a declaration of war against England, 
and by the fall of the Girondists, who fled for refuge to the 



a.d. 1795] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 655 

south of France — Marat, one of their bitterest foes, being 
murdered in his bath by Charlotte Corday, a deed which 
deprived their cause of all chance of success. 
The Convention drew up a democratic constitution ~~ °5- ^ 
full of excellent provisions, amongst them the 
referendum, but it never came into action, being prevented 
by the Reign of Terror, which lasted from August 10, 1793, to 
October 26, 1795. During this lawless time the country was 
governed by a Committee of Public Safety, of which Robespierre 
was considered to be the ruling spirit, and a Th « 
number of revolutionary committees, which at mittee of 
last reached the number of 20,000, were founded Public 
on its model throughout France. Under this Safety, 
regime, most of the Girondists perished on the scaffold, 
including Madame Roland, the wife of the minister, a woman 
of brilliant ability and noble qualities, while Roland, Petion, 
and others, put an end to their own lives. The queen, Marie 
Antoinette, was executed on October 16, 1793, Execution 
and was followed to the scaffold by the saint-like of the 
Princess Elizabeth, sister of Louis, and by Philip Queen. 
" Egalite," the duke of Orleans, who, at last, met the punishment 
of his crimes. The so-called Reign of Terror may have been 
the necessary result of the terror which the rulers of France 
inspired and the fear which they felt. They were really afraid 
of the vengeance of Europe, and desired to make peace, but no 
peace could be made until there was a stable government 
in Paris. 

Three authorities were at this time contending for mastery in 
the capital — the Convention, the Sections, and the Committee 
of Public Safety. Peace could not be made until these three 
heads had become one, and that head would conquer which had 
the most money to spend. Therefore the object of each was 
to fill its coffers, and this could only be done by executing the 
most wealthy citizens and confiscating their fortunes — a plan 
suggested by Sieyes, who had a stronger and a more statesman- 
like head than Robespierre. The power most fit for this pur- 
pose was the Committee of Public Safety, and over this Sieyes 
exercised control. It is possible, therefore, that Sieyes and not 
Robespierre should be considered as the real author of the 
Reign of Terror, although this view has not been generally held. 

The Convention now proceeded, mainly at the instigation of 
Hebert, to abolish Christianity, to deny the existence of God, 
and to establish the worship of the goddess of Reason, whom it 



656 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1789 to 

induced a woman of pure character to represent. Robespierre 
was opposed to this, and attempted to introduce a belief in a 
Supreme Being, but the effort only made him 
Christianity ridiculous. Indeed, the prominent position which 
he assumed in the festival which was to celebrate 
the worship was the beginning of his fall. The Revolution began 
to consume its own authors ; Dan ton, the ablest and perhaps 
End of the the mos t responsible of the Terrorists, perished by 
Reign of the guillotine, as did the fascinating Camille 

Terror. Desnaoulins, and the infamous Hebert. Robes- 

pierre himself could not withstand the storm ; his old associates, 
Tallien, Freron, Fouche, and Barrere, rose against him ; and at 
last the Terror came to an end by the execution, on July 28, 
1794, of himself and twenty of his associates. 

This took place, according to the revolutionary calendar, on 

Thermidor 10, so that the party who put an end to the Reign of 

Terror were called the Thermidorians ; assisted 

e ermi- ^ y the richer young men, called the jeimesse dore'e, 

they now attempted to restore the former state of 

things. The power of the Mountain, the extreme Radicals, fell, 

and the Jacobin club was closed. The prisons were emptied 

of their victims : freedom of religion was restored. A new 

constitution was drawn up by the versatile Sieyes, by which 

a Directory of five persons was placed at the head 

rr e . of the government, with a council of five hundred 

Directory. 

beneath them, and another council of " ancients " 

consisting of two hundred and fifty persons. There were also six 
ministers, each in charge of a department. The first five directors, 
who took up their abode in the Luxembourg, were Barras, 
Rewbell, La Reveillere-Lepeaux, Carnot, and Letourneur. 

Although peace was established in Paris, France was by no 
means at rest. Civil war, caused by the death of the king, 
War in La was ra gi n g hi La Vendee, a province where the 
Vendee and inhabitants, Royalist and religious, were led 
the South. by Cathelineau, Stofflet, Larochejaquelin, and 
Charette. Beginning in 1793, it was at length put down by 
Hoche, the Marcellus of the Revolution, in 1795. In this year 
the unfortunate Louis XVII. ended a life of torment by an in- 
human death, caused by the fact that Spain was demanding his 
release under threat of war, and it was thought better to get 
quit of him. Henceforth the legitimate king of France was the 
count of Provence, brother of Louis XVI., who took the title 
of Louis XVIII. The persecution of the Girondists had caused 



a.d.1795] THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 657 

a civil war in the south where Bordeaux and Marseilles, 
Lyons and Toulon, set themselves against the Revolution. The 
rising was put down with the greatest cruelty. Lyons was 
nearly destroyed, and the noyades, or drownings, invented hy 
Carrier at Nantes, obtained an unenviable notoriety. We now 
reach the end of the Revolution with the appearance of the 
name of Napoleon Bonaparte. Toulon was in 
rebellion against the Directory, had been occupied a^nvrukm 6 
by an English fleet, and was besieged by a 
Directoral army. Bonaparte, an officer of artillery, showed how 
the construction of a battery could compel the retreat of the 
British fleet. His plan was completely successful, and he was 
made a general at the age of twenty-three. He afterwards 
closed the Revolution more decisively by his "whiff of grape 
shot" on October 5, 1795. The new constitution proposed that 
the new chambers of the Directory should be chosen from the 
conventions by partial election in order to prevent a Royalist 
revolution. A number of the sections of Paris 
took the Royalist side, and marched against the p, evo i u ti n 
troops of the government, but by the masterly 
arrangements of young General Bonaparte, who had been 
entrusted with the command of Paris, they were dispersed 
by a few discharges of artillery, of which arm he was a master, 
and the Revolution was at an end. 



2 T 



CHAPTER XL 

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, A.D. 1795-1799— ENGLAND AND THE 
FRENCH REVOLUTION, A.D. 1790-1799. 

Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio in Corsica on August 
15, 1769. He came of a noble family of Tuscan origin. At 
the age of eight he was sent to the military school at Brienne, 
under the charge of the Minims, and at fourteen to the military 
school at Paris. At both of these places he distinguished 
himself by his diligence and high character, and he had little 
sympathy with the frivolous and immoral aristocracy by which 
he was surrounded. Becoming sub-lieutenant at the age of 
seventeen, he went into garrison at Valence, and other towns 
on the Rhine, and devoted himself eagerly to the study of 
artillery, in which he became a master. He also prepared 
himself in other ways for the high destiny which awaited him. 
The prevailing laxness of discipline enabled him to spend much 
of his time in Corsica, where, with his elder brother Joseph, 
who had won for himself independently a prominent position 
in the island, he attached himself to the patriot Paoli, who 
had done much to secure the self-government of his native 
country. When Paoli ceased to follow the new development of 
the Revolution in France, Napoleon broke with him, and 
fought against him in the civil war which ensued. He was 
forced to take refuge with his family, whom he deeply loved, 
at Marseilles, and was employed by the Directory on different 
duties in the south of France. His services at Toulon and on 
Vendemiaire 19 in Paris have already been narrated. At 
the end of 1795, he was appointed to command the French 
army in Italy, which was in a condition of danger and distress. 
Before narrating his campaigns, we must give some account 
of the condition of Europe at this time when they commenced. 
On June 26, 1794, Jourdan defeated the Austrians in the battle 
of Fleurus, and compelled them to evacuate Belgium. Under 
Jourdan fought s6me of the most distinguished generals who 
afterwards served Napoleon, — Massena, Kleber, Lefebvre, 

658 



a.d. 1795-1799] NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 659 

Championnet, and Bernadotte. In October, Clairfait, who suc- 
ceeded the prince of Coburg, led his defeated troops across the 
Rhine. In the following year, Pichegru, sup- Conquest of 
ported by Moreau, Souham, Macdonald, and Belgium and 
Vandanime, marched over the frozen waters Holland, 
into Holland, which was feebly defended by the duke of York. 
The statholder — the prince of Orange, "William V. — resigned 
his position, and took refuge in England. The Batavian 
Republic was founded on the model of the French, and on May 
16, 1795, peace was signed with France. The result of this 
was that Holland was regarded as a part of France, and was 
at war with England, a number of Dutch colonial possessions 
falling into English hands, including Malacca, Ceylon, Deme- 
rai'a, Surinam, and eventually the Cape of Good Hope, which 
was retained on behalf of the statholder. In 1795, by the 
diplomatic skill of Hardenberg, peace was made 
at Basel with Prussia and Spain, Prussia thus g ase i 
deserting the alliance with England. But Sardinia, 
under Victor Amadeus III., and Austria under Francis II., still 
maintained their control of Italy. 

In the autumn of 1795, the French troops in that country 
were in a sad condition, one part being commanded by Scherer 
in the eastern Riviera ; another under Kellermann 
in Savoy. They had neither food nor clothing. in Ital 
Bonaparte soon filled them with his own enthu- 
siasm. He said to them, " I will lead you into the most 
fruitful places in the world, — rich districts, large towns ; you 
shall find there honour, glory, and wealth." His plan was 
to force his army like a wedge between the Sardinians and 
Austrians, to drive back one to Turin and the other to Milan, 
and to make an honourable peace. The month 
of April 1796 is marked by the world-famous JJSSSSo* 
names of Montenotte, Millesimo, and Mondovi, 
and by the treaty of Cherasco. A peace was signed on May 15, 
surrendering Savoy and Nice to the French republic and 
making Piedmont itself almost a part of France and a point 
of departure for fresh victories. Napoleon addressed his troops 
in a tone of haughty stimulus. " They had," he said, " gained 
six victories in fourteen days, captured twenty-one standards, 
and fifty-five cannon, occupied several fortresses and the 
richest part of Piedmont, taken 15,000 prisoners, killed or 
wounded ten thousand of the enemy. They had been in want of 
everything, but had now everything by their exertions; they had 



660 A GENERAL HISTOEY [a.d. 1795 to 

won battles without cannon, crossed rivers without bridges, 

made forced marches without shoes, slept in the open air, 

without bread or brandy, — acts worthy of the sons of freedom. 

But much remained to be done — they must conquer Milan, 

avenge the murder of Basseville at Rome, set Italy free, and 

exalt the name of France." The glorious march continued ; 

Parma, Modena, and Tuscany submitted; the bridge over the 

Adda at Lodi was stormed on May 10 ; Milan was 

Lodi 6 ° entered in triumph on May 14. Brescia and 

Venice were occupied, but the strong fortress 

of Mantua remained to be conquered. Peace was made with 

Naples, but the struggle against the Austrian generals who 

descended from the Alps — Beaulieu, Wiirmser, Quosdanowitch, 

and Albinzi — continued for some time. In the meantime, 

Jourdan and Moreaii were fighting in Germany without much 

success, it being part of the plan that they should attack Vienna 

from the north of the Alps while Bonaparte advanced against 

it from the south. Bonaparte's victorious career halted, and 

he nearly lost his life, in the marshes of Areola. However, at 

Rivoli, after four days' fighting, on November 1796, he drove 

Davidovitch back into the Tyrol, and was able to lay the solid 

foundation of the Cisalpine Republic. The campaign continued 

Fall of during the winter in snow and ice. He received 

Mantua— a reinforcement of 8000 men under Joubert, and 

Treaty of on February 3, 1797, the fortress of Mantua 

Tolentino. surrendered, and the conquest of northern Italy 

was complete. A fortnight later, a treaty was signed with 

the Pope at Tolentino, in which Pius VI. surrendered Avignon 

and the Venaissin to France, together with Bologna, Ferrara, 

and the Romagna, and, what Bonaparte regarded as of supreme 

importance, the harbour of Ancona, as a point of departure 

for new conquests in the East. All these victories had been 

gained in less than a year. 

Bonaparte was now in a position to march upon Vienna, and 
on April 7, 1797, reached Leoben, within striking distance of 
Vienna. Here preliminaries of peace were signed. 
atLeoben. 6 But Defore converting them into the peace of 
Campo Formio, Bonaparte suppressed the Vene- 
tian Republic. His conduct in the matter was not very noble, 
and was tainted with intrigue, but the once proud republic was 
in a condition of abasement without physical or moral strength. 
He picked a quarrel with it, which the Venetians tried to avoid, 
and at length persuaded the republic to decree its own dissolution. 



a.d. 1799] NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 661 

During this time he was living in a country house called 
Mombello, not far from Milan, united with his beloved Josephine, 
and surrounded by his mother, his sisters, and other members 
of his family. 

The peace of Campo Formio was signed on October 18, 1797. 
Its conclusion had been delayed by various circumstances. The 
Austrians hoped, by putting off its conclusion, The Peace 
to effect a change of government in France, but of Campo 
this was stopped by the events of Fructidor 18, Formio. 
which confirmed the power of the Directory and defeated the 
intrigues of the Royalists. The Directory desired to make the 
whole of the north of Italy republican, but Bonaparte was 
convinced that the Venetians were unfit for liberty, and that 
peace could not be made without the cession of Venetia to 
Austria. The negotiations were carried on partly at Udine, 
partly at Passeriano, a villa belonging to the doge of Venice, 
Manin. There is no such place as Campo Formio. A village 
named Campo Formido lies on the road between Udine and 
Passeriano ; but there is no evidence that the plenipotentiaries 
ever met there, and the peace was signed by Bonaparte at 
Passeriano. When he was anxious to get the business finished, 
and the Austrians made light of delay, he uttered the memorable 
exclamation, " I may lose a battle, but I will never lose a 
minute." By its provisions Austria resigned Belgium and 
Lombardy, and consented to the formation of a Cisalpine Re- 
public, west of the Adige, containing, with Milan, Bergamo, 
Brescia, Verona, Modena, Massa, and Carrara ; together with 
the three legations of Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna, and the 
Valtellino with Bormio and Chiavenna, which had separated 
from the Grisons. Besides this, Corfu and the Ionian Islands 
went to France. Austria received the rest of Venetia from 
the Adige to the mouth of the Po, together with Istria, Dalmatia, 
and the islands in the Adriatic, the duke of Modena being 
compensated by the present of the Breisgau. The treaty with 
the empire was to be signed at Rastadt. Secret articles pro- 
vided that the emperor was to evacuate Mainz, Mannheim, 
Ehrenbreitstein, Philippsburg, Ulm, and the left bank of the 
Rhine, and the foundations were laid for the secularisation 
of the governments of the ecclesiastical principalities and for 
the absorption of the smaller governments of the two Hesses, 
Nassau, Wied, Salm, Lowenstein, and Ley en. This treaty was 
a great triumph for France : it created a vassal state in northern 
Italy, subject to French influence ; it weakened the power of 



662 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d.1795to 

the empire, gave France the frontier of the Rhine, rescued 

the eastern Mediterranean from the power of England, and 

opened a prospect for further conquests in the East. Venice 

was destroyed, but her fall deserved little sym- 

Fate of pathy. She was corrupt in head and members, 

and she could not have perished except by her 

own fault. The curse of Marino Faliero, as expressed by 

Byron, had fallen upon her. 

Bonaparte, after a short stay at Rastadt, reached Paris on 
December 8, 1797. He was received there with the greatest exul- 
tation, the first entertainment being given to him by Talleyrand 
Bonaparte a ^ the foreign office, where he had a memorable 
Sails for interview with Madame de Stael. On May 4 

Egypt. he left Paris, to complete the preparations for 

the expedition to Egypt which sailed from Toulon on May 19. 
He is not, therefore, responsible for the disgraceful proceedings 
in Switzerland which accompanied the formation of the 
Helvetian republic, and culminated in the " blood bath " of 
Stanz. The only compensation for these outrages was that 
the offspring of the murdered citizens fell under the care of 
Pestalozzi in a deserted monastery, and thus laid the foundation 
stone of modern education. It is probable that the Directory 
were anxious to get rid of Bonaparte, but it is certain that 
after his departure everything fell into confusion. England 
formed a second coalition with Austria, Russia, 
The Second ]sr a pi eS) an( j Turkey, which was afterwards joined 
by Sweden and Portugal, but not by Prussia 
under Frederick William III. The French accepted the challenge, 
and began the war in Italy. They drove Charles Emmanuel 
from Piedmont, wrested Tuscany and the neighbouring terri- 
tories from their princes, drove Ferdinand and his queen, Maria 
Caroline, from Naples, and founded the Parthenopean Republic 
in January 1799. At the same time, a French army crossed 
the Rhine into southern Germany, where it was opposed 
by the Austrian Archduke Charles, who defeated the French 
General Jourdan at Stockach and compelled him to recross 
the river. A battle was fought at Zurich, which drove Massena 
into the mountains of Switzerland. As the archduke's army 
came near to Rastadt, the congress suspended its sittings, and 
three of the French plenipotentiaries were murdered brutally 
by the Szekler Hussars. The Russian field-marshal, Suvorov, 
now appeared in Italy. He defeated Moreau at Cassano and 
entered Milan in triumph. Macdonald advanced from Rome 



a.d. 1799] NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 663 

to oppose him, but was worsted in a three days' battle on 
the Trebbia. Suvorov recovered Mantua and the rest of 
northern Italy, excepting Nice and Genoa, which 
was held by Moreau. The conquest was consum- Italy™ 7 "* 
mated by the battle of Novi, on August 15, 1799, in 
which Suvorov entirely defeated Joubert, who fell in the action. 
The result of this was that Ferdinand returned to Naples 
under a royalist reaction, and, assisted by Nelson, executed 
all those who were opposed to him, with great severity. Four 
thousand men and women of distinguished families perished 
on the scaffold. A Russian army under Korsakov now joined 
the Austrians in Switzerland, in order to assist 
Suvorov, who was advancing from Italy to cross Switzerland 
the Alps. But Korsakov was defeated by Massena 
in the second battle of Zurich and escaped with difficulty. At 
this time, Suvorov was marching over the St. Gotthard to 
join his fellow-countrymen, and forced the passage with great 
difficulty and serious fighting, especially at the Devil's Bridge. 
Finding himself confronted by the victorious Massena, he 
turned to the east, and, by one of the most difficult marches 
in the history of war, crossed the Panixer Pass, with enor- 
mous loss, into the Grisons, where he joined the Austrians. 
Meanwhile, a combined landing of English and Russians in 
Holland failed, through the incompetence of the duke of York, 
and the Emperor Paul suddenly left the coalition, in disgust at 
his allies. 

Bonaparte, reaching Malta on June 9, 1798, took possession 
of it, and settled its administration before June 18. He dis- 
embarked at Alexandria on July 1, fought the 
battle of the Pyramids three weeks later, and j^e Jvtvt 6 
entered Cairo as a conqueror on July 24. He 
remained there for three months, but, on October 21, an insur- 
rection took place. This, however, was speedily put down, and 
he was able to remain quietly in the city till the end of the year, 
during which time he visited Suez and formed plans for the 
cutting of the canal which has since been executed. In February 
1799 he began an expedition into Syria, captured El Arish ten 
days later, and Jaffa on March 7. On March 17 he arrived 
before Acre, which he besieged. On April 16 
he fought the battle of Mount Tabor, and slept ^Jf^f 
at Nazareth. Meanwhile, the siege of Acre was 
continued, till, on May 20, Bonaparte was forced to confess 
himself defeated. The defence of this town was conducted 



664 A GENERAL HISTORY [aj>. 1795 to 

by the English admiral, Sidney Smith, assisted by a French- 
man, Phelippeaux, who had been a comrade of Bonaparte 
at the military school. A fountain is shown in the middle 
of the town as the farthest point reached by the French 
in the assault. Napoleon always said that the siege of Acre 
was the turning point of his career ; if he had conquered that, 
he would have pursued a victorious course, and probably have 
established an empire in the East. The retreat lasted from 
May 21to June 14, when he reached Cairo, and remained there 
till the end of the month. The fleet with which Bonaparte 
had reached Egypt had been destroyed by Nelson at Aboukir in 

the first days of August 1798, when 5000 French 
5* ® ° were killed and 3000 taken prisoners, the loss of 

the English, killed and wounded, being only 900. 
Brueys was killed, the admiral's ship the Orient was burned, 
and Yilleneuve escaped with difficulty with two line of battle 
ships and two frigates to Corfu. Thus, when Bonaparte reached 
Alexandria on July 23, 1799, he knew that it was impossible to 
convey his army back to France. However, on July 25, he won 
the brilliant victory of Aboukir, over a Turkish force vastly 
superior in numbers, which gave a parting glamour to his dis- 
astrous expedition and revived the spirit of his men. At 
Alexandria, he heard of the disasters which had befallen his 
country in his absence, it is said from a packet of French papers 
sent to him by Sidney Smith, and he determined to leave at 
once. On August 23, he embarked on board a French vessel, 
bearing the name of Muiron, a friend who had sacrificed his life 
for him at the battle of Areola, reaching Ajaccio on October 1, 
and Frejus on October 9. 

Bonaparte arrived at home in the Rue de la Victoire at six 
o'clock on the morning of October 16. He had many reasons 

for disapproving of the conduct of Josephine during 
onapar e ^jg absence from his Country, but he forgave her. 

During the remainder of the month, he saw his 
brother Lucien, paid an official visit to the Directory, dined 
with Gohier, one of the Directors, had his first interview with 
Moreau, and assisted at a sitting of the Institute, by whom a 
medal was especially struck, bearing his portrait. He also re- 
ceived a visit from Bernadotte, and stayed with his brother 
Joseph at Montefontaine. About October 29 a report spread 
that private meetings were being held at the house of Si^yes, 
lasting from ten at night till two in the morning, at which 
Talleyrand, Bonaparte, and Moreau and some others were present. 



a.d.1799] NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 665 

At this time, too, Bonaparte saw a great deal of Barras, and on 
November 1 held a long conference with Sieves at the house 
of Lucien. On November 6, after a conference with Sieves, 
he attended a banquet given to himself and Moreau by the 
members of the two councils at the church of St. Sulpice. 
He was so afraid of poison that he brought his own wine and 
food with him. 

The revolution for the overthrow of the Directory was at 
last prepared, and was fixed for Brumaire 18 (November 9). 
Sieyes persuaded the councils to transfer their 
sittings to St. Cloud, to avoid a Jacobin conspiracy Dir ec ° ory e 
which was supposed to be imminent. On Novem- 
ber 8, Bonaparte dined with Cambaceres at the Ministry of 
Justice, and the next morning received a decree of the Council 
of Ancients appointing him commander of the troops in Paris. 
He paid his respects to the Council and reviewed his troops at 
the Tuileries. En the evening, a council was held at the 
Tuileries, in which it was agreed that the Directors should 
resign and that three provisional Consuls should be appointed. 
On the morning of Brumaire 19, Bonaparte, having secured the 
safety of the capital and the persons of the Directors, rode 
down to St. Cloud to dissolve the two assemblies. The 
Ancients, who were inside the palace, presented no difficulty, 
but the Five Hundred, though presided over by Lucien Bona- 
parte, who was the soul of the conspiracy, gave more trouble. 
Bonaparte found himself more nervous and embarrassed in a 
scene of civil trouble than on the field of battle. When he urged 
the Assembly to dissolve in the interests of freedom and equality, 
he was interrupted by cries of " the Constitution ! " and found 
himself helpless. He was forced to imitate Cromwell, and to 
send Murat to drive out the deputies at the point of the 
bayonet. At last, a decree was passed by what remained 
of the two councils under the presidency of Lucien, appointing 
a provisional consulate consisting of Sieyes, Roger-Ducos, and 
Bonaparte, who was to be the executive officer, upon which 
he returned to Paris, and late at night addressed a proclamation 
to the French people. On the morning of November 1 1 
(Brumaire 20), Bonaparte went to St. Cloud and met the rump 
of the two councils, assembled in ,the Orangery. Bonaparte 
At ten he paid a visit to the Luxembourg, which as First 
had been the palace of the Directory, and at Consul, 
midday the three Consuls met for the first time. These 
arrangements were merely provisional. The provisional Consuls 



666 A GENERAL HISTORY [a . D . 1795 to 

held their last meeting in the evening of December 24, and, 
on Christmas Day 1799, a new government — Bonaparte as 
First Consul, assisted by Gambaceres and Lebrun — was 
solemnly installed in office by fifty commissioners of the 
assemblies, and a period of virtual royalty began again for 
France. 

What effects had the French Revolution on England? At 
first we were inclined to rejoice at the abasement of an hereditary 
England f° e > Du ^ consideration soon showed us that the 

and the consequences might be serious for ourselves. In 

Revolution. 1790, Burke published his Reflections, a reasoned 
attack upon the Revolution, a masterpiece of English literature. 
It was answered in the RigJds of Man by Thomas Paine. In 
May 1791, an open quarrel broke out between Burke and Fox, 
during the discussions over the Quebec Act, which constituted 
the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, Fox supporting 
the principles of the Revolution and Burke denouncing them, 
a quarrel which was never healed. In the same year, Grenville, 
a cousin of Pitt, a hard-headed but somewhat cold and pedantic 
politician, became foreign secretary, and Dundas, Pitt's inti- 
mate friend, was placed at the home office. The Revolution 
began to show its effects. Riots took place in Birmingham on 
the announcement that the " Constitutional Party" intended to 
celebrate the taking of the Bastille, and the house of Dr. 
Priestley, the president of the society, was burned, with the 
approval of the municipal authorities. In Ireland, the Society 
of United Irishmen was formed amongst both Catholics and 
Protestants, for the removal of Catholic disabilities in the 
Irish Parliament, Wolfe Tone and Thomas Emmett being the 
leaders. On February 1, 1793, the French government de- 
clared war against England and Holland. This 
ofNva^ event had been preparing for some time. The 

king was strongly opposed to the Revolution, and 
the cabinet was divided. Pitt was passionately in favour of 
peace, and made great efforts to secure it, which Grenville was 
not prepared to support. The Committee of Public Safety and 
the Convention made matters very difficult. The decree for 
opening the Scheldt to commerce, although opposed to English 
interests, might have been got over, and the decree of 
November 19, offering assistance to all peoples who desired to 
recover their liberty, although announcing a revolutionary 
propaganda, was not so serious as it seemed. The French 
executive was also divided between war and peace, and perhaps 



a.d. 1799] NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 667 

if Maret had reached England in time, and could have conferred 
with Pitt, the war need never have taken place. But the 
execution of the king made peace impossible. Chauvelin, the 
French ambassador, was ordered to leave England, which was 
an insult to France that could not be overlooked, and at the 
beginning of the month war was declared, and Dumouriez was 
instructed to invade Holland. The war thus begun, which 
perhaps might have been prevented, lasted, with momentous 
consequences, and only one short intermission, till the victory of 
Waterloo in 1815. 

The first coalition which fought against France was com- 
posed of England, Spain, Sardinia, Portugal, Holland, Austria, 
and Prussia. Pitt, unlike his father, was a bad 

war minister, and, underrating the strength and «„„,•.,.•„„ 
• c -n • ii Coalition, 

enthusiasm or the Jcrench nation, thought that 

the war would be over in six months. In the first year, the 
Austrians were successful in the Netherlands, Toulon sur- 
rendered to Hood, the duke of York besieged Dunkirk ; but 
before the end of it fortune began to turn, and in 1794, after 
the French victory of Fleurus, the allies evacuated the Austrian 
Netherlands, though by the battle of the "Glorious First of 
June " a French fleet was entirely defeated in 
the English Channel by Howe. To carry on the v*°T e S 
war with greater energy, a new office of secretary 
of war was created, which was given to Dundas. English 
Radicals, such as Home Tooke and Thomas Hardy, were tried 
for high treason, but without much success. In 1795, foreign 
relations became more composed. Poland ceased to exist, 
being finally divided between Russia, Austria, and Prussia ; the 
French established the Batavian Republic, practically making 
Holland a part of France, the result of which was that England 
declared war upon Holland and captured her colonies ; while, 
by the peace of Basel, Prussia and Spain left the coalition 
and made peace with France. England, finding herself de- 
serted, was forced to make alliances with Austria and Russia ; 
but Russia did little, and the struggle against the Revolution 
was practically continued only by England and Austria. 

The years of 1796 and 1797 witnessed the victories of 
Bonaparte in Italy, and Sardinia was lost to the coalition. 
Pitt tried to make peace in March and October, 1796, but, in 
both cases, without success. The second of these two years is 
said to be the darkest time in English history. Plans were 
made by which the French and Spaniards were to invade 



668 A GENERAL HISTORY [a .d. 1795 to 

England, while the Dutch would make a landing in Ireland, 

at that time seriously disaffected to the English government. 

Battle of The battle of Cape St. Vincent, won by Jervis 

Cape St. and Nelson, destroyed the French and Spanish 

Vincent. fleets and was a prelude to Trafalgar. At the 

same time, a French force effected a landing in Wales, but was 

compelled to surrender to Lord Cawdor. Commercial distress 

was so great that the Bank of England had to suspend cash 

payments, which were not resumed till 1819. There were two 

Naval mutinies in the English fleet, caused by the dis- 

Mutinies content of the sailors, one at Spithead and one at 

Battle of the 1ST ore. A third attempt at negotiations for 
Camper- peace by Pitt failed, but the battle of Camper- 

down, won by Duncan against the Dutch, pre- 
vented an invasion of England from that quarter. At the 
same time, however, Austria was detached from the coalition 
by the treaty of Campo Formio, and, Portugal having also 
made peace with France, England now stood alone. It is to 
her credit that she endeavoured to make peace, but it was no 
credit that she continued the war with stubborn obstinacy. 

In 1798, the year in which Nelson destroyed the French 

fleet in the engagement absurdly called the battle of the 

Nile, a rebellion which had long been preparing 

t, ? „J. 1S broke out in Ireland, relations between the two 

Rebellion. . , . '„ 

countries having gradually become worse since 

1795. In that year the society of United Irishmen was 
reconstructed on republican lines. The Orange Society was 
founded by the Protestants, which led to a terrible persecu- 
tion of the Catholics in the north of Ireland. The Catholic 
" Defenders," who had at first only concerned themselves 
with agrarian grievances, joined the political society of 
the United Irishmen. In 1796 Wolfe Tone sought the 
assistance of the French Directory, but the French fleet did 
not get farther than Bantry Bay. The United Irishmen per- 
suaded the peasants that the Protestants were contemplating 
a universal murder of the Catholics, so that the country was 
in a condition of veiled rebellion; and when, in 1798, martial 
law was proclaimed, and English troops were quartered upon 
the Irish people, the rebellion broke out. The rebels were 
defeated at Vinegar Hill on June 21, and a French force 
which landed in their support at Killala was routed by 
Lake. 

In 1799, during the absence of Bonaparte in Egypt, England 



a.d. 1799] NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 669 

succeeded in forming a second coalition against France, of 
which Austria and Russia were the most prominent members, 
and in India a danger was removed by the 
defeat and death of Tippoo Sahib, the ruler of J^*?™ 1 " 1 
Mysore, who had been negotiating with France. 
The successes and disasters of Bonaparte in Egypt and Syria 
have been already narrated. At the close of the year he re- 
turned to his country after his repulse from Acre, and could say 
with truth to those who met him, " What have you clone with the 
France which I left so powerful?" By the events of Brumaire 
18, he became the First Consul, and his first action was to 
endeavour to make peace. On Christmas Day, 1799, the very 
day on which he entered upon his new office, he wrote 
the following letter with his own hand to George III. : 
" Called by the wishes of the French nation to occupy the 
first magistracy of the republic, I think it proper on entering 
into office to make a direct communication of Bonaparte's 
it to your majesty. The war which has for Letter to 
eight years ravaged the four quarters of the George III. 
world, must it be eternal? — are there no means of coming to 
an understanding? How can the two most enlightened nations 
of Emope, powerful and strong beyond what their safety and 
independence require, sacrifice to ideas of vain greatness the 
benefits of commerce, internal prosperity, and the happiness 
of families 1 How is it that they do not feel that peace is 
of the first necessity as well as of the first glory ? 

" These sentiments cannot be foreign to the heart of your 
majesty, who reigns over a free nation, and with the sole view 
of rendering it happy. Your majesty will only see in this 
overture my sincere desire to contribute efficaciously for the 
second time to a general pacification, by a step speedy, entirely 
confidential, and disengaged from those forms which, — necessary, 
perhaps, to disguise the dependence of weak states — prove in 
those which are strong only the mutual desire of deceiving 
each other. France and England, by the abuse of their strength, 
may still, for a short time, to the misfortune of all nations, 
retard the period of their own exhaustion. But, I will venture 
to say, the fate of all civilised nations is attached to the termina- 
tion of a war which has involved the whole world." 

It is possible that Pitt would have accepted this offer, recog- 
nising in some measure that a new atithority had arisen in 
France ; but he was prevented by the pedantry of Grenville 
and the enthusiasm of Wyndham for the cause of the French 



670 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1795-1799 

emigi-ants. Therefore, in response to this appeal, which pro- 
ceeded from the heart and the head of the writer, a chilling 
official answer was sent from- the secretary of state, and the 
war begun in 1793 went on, notwithstanding strong opposition 
Bonaparte i n the English Parliament. A letter couched 
offers terms in similar terms was addressed by Bonaparte 
to Austria, to the Emperor Francis II., reminding him of 
the relations which had previously existed between them, offering 
to renew the peace of Campo Formio. But Austria partly rejected 
the offers of the First Consul because she had regained so much 
ground during the absence of Bonaparte in Egypt, but chiefly 
because England would not allow her to make peace. Bonaparte 
was driven to try other methods for effecting his object ; the 
cold and insulting replies of Grenville and Thugut increased 
his popularity in France ; and the country armed itself with 
enthusiasm to extort by force the settlement which it could 
not obtain by a generous offer of peace. 



CHAPTER XII. 

NAPOLEON, A.D. 1800-1805. 

The first duty of the new government was to organise itself as 
a working institution. The fantastic edifice of Sieves, in which 
the five million electors of France were to choose The New 
half a million communal notables, who were to Constitu- 
choose fifty thousand departmental notables, who tion. 
were to choose five thousand ultimate notables, a selection of 
whom were to govern the country, was unworkable and absurd. 
The double election of the president has failed in America : 
the triple election of officials could not succeed in France. 
Similarly there was to be a tribunate who discussed without 
voting, a legislative body who voted without discussion, and a 
senate who might annul any measure as guardians of the 
constitution. There was to be a Grand Elector, who possessed 
dignity without power, while the executive government was 
entrusted to a college of three consuls. Napoleon, with great 
skill, changed this arrangement into a workable machine. Sieyes 
had provided that all persons who, at the beginning of the 
Revolution, had belonged to any municipal or political assembly, 
or had held a public office, should be included in the list of 
notables in addition to those legally elected, which gave Bona- 
parte the opportunity of confiding the administration to men 
whom he could trust ; the power of the Senate was diminished, 
the Grand Elector became a shadow, the consuls were appointed 
for ten years, and the " First Consul " was placed officially at 
their head. In this manner, the First Consul was invested with 
the power which was absolutely necessary for the proper 
conduct of affairs. Happily, the Conseil d'Etat (the Council 
of State) could be extended so as to become a 
political body, competent to act, and yet of ofState 1 "^ 
popular complexion, and it was through this body 
that Bonaparte was able to effect the reconstruction of France. 
Both the consuls and the Conseil d'Etat met as a rule every 
day, — the consuls at noon, the Conseil d'Etat at two o'clock. 

671 



672 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. isoo to 

The rooms in which they met were close together, so that 
the First Consul could pass from one to the other, and the 
Council of State often sat till far into the night. The minutes 
of this council were burnt under the Commune, but we know 
that out of the hundred sittings devoted to the Code Napoleon 
The First ^he First Consul presided over fifty-seven. No 
Consul head of a government ever worked so hard as 

and his Napoleon. His week-ends were spent at Malmai- 

Ministers. S011j a coun try house in the neighbourhood of 
Paris, inseparably associated with the memories of Josephine 
and himself. The first officials with whom Napoleon worked 
on arriving at power remained with him till the end. Cam- 
baceres, although conceited and fond of representation, was 
an excellent jurist, Lebrun a faithful henchman, Gaudin an 
incomparable financier, Maret a wise and trusted secretary. 
To these were added Talleyrand as foreign minister, false but 
indispensable; Fouche, an accomplished rogue, set as minister 
of police to watch rogues ; Carnot, an honest man and an un- 
rivalled minister of war ; Lucien, true to his brother at the 
beginning and at the end of his career, but during a long period 
estranged from him in the assertion of his independence. 
Napoleon found it difficult to command an army without 
Berthier as head of the staff. 

With this machinery in his hands, Napoleon (as we shall now 
call him) had to construct a new France, for the Revolution 
had destroyed not only all institutions of govern- 
fO der 10n men ^> but a ^ material from which a government 
could be constructed. Paris and the provinces 
were in a condition of anarchy, torn asunder by Royalist 
Emigrants on one side and Jacobin Terrorists on the other. 
Paris had no police and no morality : the garden of the Palais 
Royale, in its filth and its obscenity, was a disgrace to a civilised 
country. Religion, the foundation of all morality, which had 
been trampled under foot, was deliberately and thankfully re- 
stored. The centralised system of administration which had 
been established by Richelieu and Louis XIV., and which was 
necessary for the unity of France but had been ruined by the 
anarchy of the Revolution, was reconstructed by Napoleon. It 
still remains the safeguard of France, the iron framework 
which keeps her discordant elements together, and without 
which she would cease to exist as a nation ; the division of the 
country into departments, arrondissements, cantons, and com- 
munes, with prefects, subprefects, and mayors at their head, is 



a.d. 1805] NAPOLEON 673 

as necessary now as it was then ; the faculty of self-govern- 
ment is inbred in a nation's character, and cannot be imposed 
from without. The First Consul gave to France law, order, 
and religion ; he restored the finances, being one of the best 
financiers the world has ever seen. When Fox reached Paris 
after the peace of Amiens, he was astonished to find money 
much more plentiful in Paris than in London. The new Code, 
which all nations who have lived under it are reluctant to 
surrender, gave unity and equality of law to all classes. For 
the first time in the history of France, a career was open to 
talent, energy, and ambition, in which all might compete on 
equal terms. 

The Consuls were established at the Tuileries on February 19, 
1800. Napoleon said to Bourienne : " "Well, here we are at the 
Tuileries ; we must endeavour to remain here." He stayed at 
Paris till May 6, presiding at the Council of State, spending 
Sundays at Malmaison, and holding a fortnightly review in 
the courtyard of the Carrousel. In order to coerce Austria into 
peace, a double campaign had been projected — an invasion of 
Germany by the Rhine army under Moreau, and a crushing of 
Austria in Italy by Napoleon himself. At the 
beginning of May, Moreau crossed the Rhine at Y3 Moreau 
Breisach, defeated the Austrian s at Engen, 
Stockach, and Mosskirch, and reached the Danube. Kray was 
so completely overmastered that 16,000 men could be detached 
by Moreau to strengthen the army in Italy. In the middle of 
June, the Austrians, by masterly manoeuvres, were driven from 
Ulm, and, on July 15, the armistice of Parsdorf placed the 
south of Germany in the hands of France. In the meantime, 
Napoleon reached Dijon, where his army had been secretly 
forming, in twenty-five hours from the capital, went to Geneva, 
where he saw Necker, had an interview with Carnot at 
Lausanne, and reached Martigny on May 17, where he heard of 
the capture of Aosta. Berthier having written to him that the 
little fortress of Bard at the foot of the Great Napoleon 
St. Bernard could not be taken, he determined crosses the 
to go there immediately, and passed the mountains Alps, 
on May 21. He left Martigny at 8, breakfasted at Liddes at 
11, dined at the hospice of St. Bernard at 5, left at 6.30, and 
reached Etroubles at 9 p.m. ; and, forcing the defile of Bard, 
entered Milan on the evening of June 2. The immortal battle 
of Marengo was fought on June 14, and at half- past three 
he found himself beaten ; but at this moment Desaix arrived, 

2 u 



674 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. laoo to 

and urged that, although one battle was lost, there was time 
to win another. The victorious Austrians were attacked with 
Battles of vigour, and were completely defeated, Desaix 
Marengo perishing in the moment of victory. On De- 
and Hohen- cember 3, Moreau won the battle of Hohenlinden, 
linden. a victory as distinguished but not so well re- 

membered as that of Marengo, and the Austrians had to seek 
for peace. 

On Christmas Eve, 1800, as Napoleon was driving to the 
opera to hear the first performance of Haydn's Creation, a 
so-called infernal machine was exploded under 
ConTtnracv ^* s can 'i a g e anc ^ killed a large number of 
persons. We know now that this was part of a 
Royalist conspiracy against Napoleon's power and even life, 
which was encouraged and assisted by the English govern- 
ment — a conspiracy which had eventually to be put a stop 
to by the execution of the Due d'Enghien. For the moment, 
however, it enabled the First Consul to send into exile a 
number of Jacobins and Terrorists, who were equally dan- 
gerous to the peace of the country. But the best answer 
to these attacks was peace, and the treaty of Luneville be- 
tween France and Austria, preparations for which had been 
made by Napoleon and his brother Joseph even before the 
battle of Hohenlinden, was signed at Luneville on February 
9, 1801. 

The treaty of LuneVille confirmed the arrangements made at 
Campo Formio and went further in some respects. Its general 
Treatv of effect was to give France the frontier of the 
Luneville. Rhine, together with Belgium, and the chief 
control over northern Italy. The German princes, 
chiefly ecclesiastical, who were dispossessed of their territories 
on the left bank of the Rhine were to be compensated else- 
where when territory had been found for them. By this treaty, 
France became the mistress of Europe by land, as England was 
at sea. The kingdom of Etruria was founded in central Italy ; 
Naples gave up her claim to Elba and the opposite coast of 
Italy ; Spain placed her fleet at the disposal of France ; Portugal 
submitted to France in the treaty of Badajoz. But things went 
hardly in Egypt, where Kl6ber was murdered at Cairo on the 
same day and at the same hour that Desaix fell at Marengo, 
and, in September 1801, the French garrison, 24,000 strong, 
was brought back to Europe in English ships. In Russia also 
things went badly for France. The emperor, Paul I., whose 



a.d. 1805] NAPOLEON 675 

eccentricity almost reached the point of madness, was a de- 
voted admirer and friend of Napoleon, but partly by English 
intrigue, and certainly with the knowledge of his Death of the 
son and successor, Alexander, he was foully and Emperor 
cruelly murdered on the night of March 23, 1801, P aul L 
and Russia became the ally of England. Before this time, just 
after the battle of Marengo, England had endeavoured to con- 
solidate her strength by an Act of Union with Union of 
Ireland, which certainly protected that island England 
against foreign intrigues, but was of doubtful an( * Ireland. 
utility to either country, and was carried by a majority of one 
in the Irish Parliament, purchased by bribery and corruption. 
The union dated from January 1, 1801, and was marked by the 
addition of the Cross of St. Patrick to those of St. George and 
St. Andrew in the Union-Jack. The united kingdom was to 
have a single Parliament, in which Ireland was largely repre- 
sented. In 1800 England captured from France Malta, which 
France had promised to Russia. The Czar, mortally Second 
offended, established a second Armed Neutrality Armed 
with Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia, to withstand Neutrality, 
the British claims to search neutral vessels and check their trade 
with France. This and the treaty of Luneville were met by the 
unprovoked attack of Nelson upon Denmark, in which the capital 
was shelled and the Danish fleet destroyed, on April 
2, 1801, in what is called the battle of Copenhagen, Conenhaffen 
an act of indefensible aggression. Some weeks 
earlier, Pitt ceased to be prime minister of England, and was 
succeeded by Addington, Pitt being, as Canning wittily observed, 
to Addington as London was to Paddington. The sole cause of 
his resignation was the refusal of the king to give the franchise 
to Catholics in Ireland, which Pitt had solemnly promised as a 
condition of the Union. 

One of the first occupations of the Addington ministry was 
to make peace with France. On the one hand, Abercromby 
gained the victory of Alexandria over the French 
in Egypt ; on the other, Nelson failed in destroy- The Peace 
ing the flotilla which Napoleon had collected at 
Boulogne for the invasion of England. Consequently, the pre- 
liminaries of peace were signed at Amiens, on October 1, 1801, 
and the definite peace on March 27, 1802. The conditions were 
that Great Britain should return to France, Spain, and Holland 
all the conquests which she had made, with the exception of 
Ceylon and Trinidad ; that the king should surrender the title 



676 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. isoo to 

of king of France, which the kings of England had borne since 
1340, and should remove the French lilies, which had ceased 
to be the emblem of France, from the royal arms ; and above 
all, that the island of Malta should be restored to the knights of 
St. John. On the other hand, France should evacuate Naples 
and the Papal States, should acknowledge the independence of 
the Ionian Islands, and should restore Egypt to the Porte. The 
peace was received with great rejoicings both in England and in 
France. It has been described as a hollow truce, a temporary 
suspension of the conflict, which both countries intended to 
resume as soon as possible, but there is no doubt that Napoleon 
was seriously anxious for peace — indeed it is probable that peace 
with England, the country which he most respected and admired, 
was one of the main objects of his career. Undoubtedly the 
result of the war was as much to the advantage of England as 
the preservation of peace was necessary to the prosperity of 
France. Napoleon would not have put an end to the peace of 
Amiens unless he had been forced to do so by the conduct of 
England. He used the period of peace to settle the relations 
France and between France and the rest of Europe. He 
the rest of drew the Batavian Republic closer to France, in- 
Europe. creasing its commerce and prosperity. As armed 

mediator he gave a good constitution to Switzerland, which 
revolutionary France had treated so badly and left in such dis- 
order. He began the great road over the Simplon, and, to secure 
its not being affected by the vicissitudes of the other cantons, gave 
a separate constitution to the valleys through which it passed. 
He changed the Cisalpine into an Italian Republic, taking a 
further step towards the unity of Italy, which he so fervently 
desired. And he put an end to the effete constitution of the 
German empire by destroying the independent sovereignty of 
a large number of German princes, and profoundly modifying the 
ecclesiastical government of the German states. If Germany, 
ten years later, could rise against Napoleon in the war of inde- 
pendence, she owed her power to do so to the fact that Napoleon 
had struck off her chains. It is true that Napoleon, by the 
splendour of his genius, became, to some extent, the arbiter of 
Europe, which needed a reconstruction of its worn-out polity, 
and a statesman who would indicate the lines on which it should 
be reconstructed, but he also restored religion to France, which 
he knew was necessary for her existence. On October 4, 1801, he 
signed the decree which gave back the churches to the church ; 
two days later, he received at the Tuileries Cardinal Caprara, 



a. to. 1805] NAPOLEON 677 

the legate of the Holy See. On January 4, 1802, his brother 
Louis was married to Hortense Beauharnais, the daughter 
of Josephine, in the chapel of the Tuileries, by 
Cardinal Caprara, a preliminary to his own corona- * . ^.ij 18111 
tion by the pope in the cathedral of Notre Dame. 
On January 8, in the Council of State, he recalled a large number 
of the emigres from exile. On January 26, he accepted the presi- 
dency of the Italian Republic, offered to him by the Italian 
government, which was afterwards objected to by England, as an 
act of usurpation, but which took place two months before the 
signature of the treaty of Amiens. April 1802 was a month 
full of glory for Napoleon. On the ninth, Cardinal Caprara was 
solemnly received by the government as legate a latere of the 
pope, and the archbishops and bishops who, by the Concordat, 
were to be at the head of the French church were nominated. 
On the 17th he ratified the treaties concluded at Amiens with 
England, Spain, and the Batavian Republic; and on the 18th, 
which, was Easter Sunday, the Concordat was solemnly pro- 
mulgated. A great religious service was held in Notre Dame, 
attended by the three Consuls, the new bishops took the oath of 
allegiance, and the day closed with a banquet at the Tuileries. 
What greater service could a sovereign render to his country 
than to restore to it the peace which nine years before had 
been broken by anarch} 7 , and the religion which for ten years 
had been trodden under foot? On May 4, the regeneration of 
France was properly marked by the institution of the Legion of 
Honour — a Garter, a Golden Fleece, founded on 
democratic principles. To make Napoleon Consul f tt e ^ lon 
for life, which was not effected till August 2, was 
a just but imperfect recognition of the benefits which he had 
conferred upon his country. 

During the peace a large number of Englishmen visited 
Paris, among them Charles James Fox, who went there to 
collect materials for his history of the later Stuarts. They were 
hospitably received by the First Consul, and were deeply im- 
pressed by the popularity of the government and the prosperity 
of the country. Lord Whitworth was sent to Paris as English 
ambassador, and was received at the Tuileries on December 
3 — a most unfortunate choice, as he was a stiff necked and narrow- 
minded aristocrat and his wife was a duchess whom he thought 
too good for republican society. After a period of strained rela- 
tions, intensified, as usual, by the intemperance of the press on 
both sides of the channel, war was eventually declared on May 



678 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. isoo to 

18, 1803, thirteen months after the final conclusion of peace. The 
causes of this were the jealousy of Napoleon's power in Europe, 
which miffht easily have been foreseen when the 
,. w peace was signed, and the refusal to surrender 

Malta, a breach of honourable engagements, which 
it was impossible that Napoleon could put up with. It is 
generally held that, in the war against Napoleon which con- 
tinued till 1815, England was supporting the cause of independ- 
ence and liberty in the world. It is probably more true that 
the name and authority of Napoleon stood in every part of 
Europe for progress and civilisation, which is shown by the 
degrading servitude of peoples which followed his fall, when the 
chief object of his enemies was to undo his work. Certain it 
is that the wars in which Napoleon engaged from the campaign 
of Austerlitz to that of Waterloo were not sought by him ; but 
were stimulated and supported by English subsidies, which 
exhausted our labouring classes and subjected our country 
to a debt of eight hundred millions. Whether the destruc- 
tion of Napoleon was worth the sacrifice, each one must 
decide for himself. Napoleon replied to the declaration of war 
by the arrest of all Englishmen travelling in France as a 
reprisal for the attack of the English on French shipping. On 
the breach of the peace which he had concluded, Addington 
retired from office, and Pitt resumed the premiership, with 
Harrowby as foreign secretary. 

At this time, the members of the Bourbon family to whom 

England was giving protection were the chief instigators of 

The Bour- the war against France. They were led by 

bons in the Comte d'Artois, the prince of Conde, and 

England. the duke of Bourbon, father and grandfather of 

the duke of Enghien. They received pensions from the English 

government, a generosity which was shared by a host of 

needy emigrants, bearing noble names, living in obscure lodgings, 

under the general superintendence of William Wyndham, and 

aided by the magnanimous friendship of Burke. They were 

in league with conspirators in France, who were doing their 

best to render Napoleon's government in France impossible, 

and to threaten not only his sovereignty, but his life. The 

leaders of this conspiracy, inspired partly by 

Cadoudal's m i s t a ken patriotism and partly by jealousy, were 

Georges Cadoudal, Pichegru, and, sad to say, 

Moreau, who was not strong enough to resist the influence 

to which he was exposed. The English government gave 



a.d. 1805] NAPOLEON 679 

money for the support of Royalist armies in France, assisted 
descents upon the French coast, allowed their diplomatic agents 
on the frontiers of France to intrigue against the French 
government, discussed plans of conspiracy with Cadoudal, and 
permitted him without remonstrance to inform them of the 
plans which were being formed against the First Consul's life. 
Napoleon was obliged to protect himself with vigour against 
the enemies of France abroad and at home. 

It was necessary to put an end to the Bourbon conspiracies. 
Charles of Artois had not courage enough to lead the expedi- 
tion which he was asked to conduct, while Conde and Bourbon 
lived in luxury in English country houses, stirring up the 
danger which they did not share, escaping the punishment 
which they deserved, while they exposed others to it. Their 
son and grandson, the duke of Enghien, in spite of the warn- 
ings of his father and grandfather, lived at Ettenheim, a village 
near the French border, which had belonged to Cardinal 
de Rohan, archbishop of Strasburg, and recently to France, 
detained there by the charms of the Cardinal's niece, whom he 
loved passionately and had perhaps married. He was properly 
kept in ignorance of CadoudaFs conspiracy, but he had fought 
against his country as an emigre and was, therefore, subject to 
the penalty of death, and he was to lead an army in Alsace if a 
war broke out. Napoleon determined to arrest and shoot him, 
as he could not suffer a Bourbon prince to be living in those 
times so near to his dominions. The duke of Baden, to whose 
lot Ettenheim had recently fallen, was powerless to expel him, 
and Enghien disregarded every warning that he should leave, 
and neglected every opportunity for escape. On p a ^ e f 
the night of February 14, 1804, the question of the Con- 
the conspiracy was discussed in the council of spirators. 
ministers and, on the following day, by the Consuls and the 
council of state. On that day, Moreau was arrested. On March 9, 
Georges Cadoudal was captured in Paris, and, on the evening of 
the following day, instructions were issued to Berthier and Cau- 
laincourt for the arrest of Enghien. A small force Execution 
of French cavalry crossed the Rhine; Enghien of the Duke 
was seized and brought to Vincennes ; he was of Enghien. 
immediately tried, condemned, and shot, and was buried in 
the castle ditch. The duke of Baden thanked the First Consul 
for the act of justice, which he was not strong enough to 
execute himself, and from that time forth nothing more was 
heard of Bourbon conspiracies. Cadoudal was executed, 



A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. isoo to 

Pichegru hung himself in prison, and Moreau took refuge 
in America. It was obvious that, if France was to be well 
governed, a monarchy must be restored, and the crown was 
offered to Napoleon, as it was offered to Cromwell on a similar 
occasion for the same reasons. On May 18, the 
Emueror 1 Senate passed a vote which raised General Napoleon 
Bonaparte to rank of emperor, and afterwards 
went in a body to St. Cloud, to salute him under the title 
of Napoleon I. His first act was to create eighteen marshals, 
whose names have become famous in history, — Berthier, 
Murat, Jourdan, Massena, Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Moncey, 
Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Davout, Bessieres, Kellermann, 
Lefebvre, Perignon, and Serurier. On June 15, the new dignity 
was consecrated at Notre Dame, by a mass celebrated by the 
cardinal legate, and in the afternoon crosses were solemnly 
distributed to the members of the Legion of Honour, who took 
the oath of allegiance to their new sovereign. 

England still remained at war, although Napoleon renewed 
his offers of peace. It became necessary to alter the govern- 
The Empire men ^ or the states dependent on France, in ac- 
and the cordance with the alteration of the government of 

Dependent that country. Schimmelpennink as grand pen- 
States, sionary became head of the Batavian, and Eugene 
Beauharnais, as viceroy, head of the Italian Republic. Genoa 
and Piedmont were united with France. Elisa Bonaparte, wife 
of the commoner Bacciochi, became Duchess of Piombino 
and Lucca, to which Massa was afterwards added, which she 
governed with the enlightenment and skill which she after- 
wards displayed in Tuscany. Steps were taken to secure the 
fidelity of Naples, and the unfortunate Queen Caroline, who 
deserved a better fate, found herself hardly pressed between 
the upper and lower millstones of France on one side and 
England and Russia on the other. Wherever the government 
of Napoleon went, civilisation followed ; the Code Napoleon was 
received everywhere as a priceless boon, and a model adminis- 
tration was established, until it was ruined by the inappeasable 
enmity of England, who used her revenues, derived from the 
taxes of the people, to stir up interminable war. Napoleon, 
following the example of Marengo, set himself 
Boulogne & *° S a * n ^ force of arms what he could not gain 
by persuasion, and made vast preparations at 
Boulogne for the invasion of England. England answered by 
arming volunteers, and by building Martello towers along the 



a.d. 1805] NAPOLEON 681 

coast, which still exist as a monument of expensive folly. It 

has been supposed that Napoleon was not serious in this project 

of invasion, and he could certainly never have carried it out. 

But it is equally certain that he really intended it and put all 

the power of his mind to the execution of it. He had no 

command of steam, which would be largely employed in any 

similar enterprise at the present day. 

England also proceeded to form a new coalition. Alexander 

I. was anxious to restore the Bourbon dynasty, and made offers 

to England, which, after some hesitation, were . „, , 

t • • Thfi Third 

accepted on April 11, 1805. The coalition was coalition 

joined by Sweden, and, unfortunately for herself, 
by Austria. Prussia, for the present, remained neutral, and it 
would have been better for her if she had preserved that atti- 
tude. For the invasion of England, Napoleon had formed a 
plan that Villeneuve, sailing from Toulon, should unite with 
the Dutch and Spanish fleets and entice Nelson to the West 
Indies, then, suddenly returning, should liberate Gantheaume, 
who was blockaded by Cornwallis in Brest, and, with him, 
occupy the English Channel. Hearing, in the middle of August 
1805, that his plan had failed, and that Villeneuve, unable to 
liberate Gantheaume, had sailed to Cadiz, he first ^he English 
broke out into a fit of uncontrollable wrath, and, Invasion 
when he had recovered himself, dictated orders for abandoned, 
a campaign which was completely to destroy Austria and make 
peace in Vienna. He wrote to Talleyrand from Boulogne on 
August 23 : — " If the fleets do notcome, I shall march with 200,000 
men into Germany, and not stop till I have reached Vienna, 
added Venice to my possessions, and driven the Bourbons from 
Naples. I shall not allow Austria and Russia to join forces, but 
defeat them before they can unite." This was carried out to the 
letter. On October 20, Mack capitulated at Ulm, 
and 24,000 Austrians, among whom were eighteen Trafalgar 
generals, laid down their arms at Napoleon's feet, 
as he stood before the Michaelsberg. England proudly avenged 
herself on the following day, by the immortal victory of Trafalgar, 
in which the genius of Nelson so completely destroyed the French 
and Spanish fleets that they have never since raised their 
heads, but have conceded to England the undis- 
puted mastery of the seas. On November 13 Austerlitz 
Napoleon became master of Vienna, and on 
December 2 won the battle of Austerlitz, in which the Russians 
and Austrians were completely defeated. 



682 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. isoo to 

Before these events occurred, Napoleon had taken steps 

to establish his authority in Europe. On December 1, 1804, 

The the Senate declared the imperial dignity heredi- 

Imperial tary in the family of Napoleon, or in that of his 

Family. brothers Louis and Joseph, if Napoleon should 

die without issue. On the same evening, Napoleon and 

Josephine were married in a religious ceremony by Cardinal 

Fesch. On the following day, just a year before Austerlitz, 

the emperor and empress were solemnly crowned in Notre 

Dame by Pope Pius VI., who had come to Paris for that 

purpose. On March 24, 1805, Louis Napoleon, the son of 

Louis and Hortense, afterwards the Emperor Napoleon III., 

was baptized at St. Cloud by the pope, who left for Rome -a 

week later. In April Napoleon visited Italy with Josephine. 

They met the pope at Turin, visited the battlefield of Marengo, 

Napoleon an< l on May 2 he was crowned king of Italy, 

King of in the cathedral of Milan, by Cardinal Caprara, 

Italy. the legate of the Holy See. On June 24, he 

made Lucca, as we have said, into a principality for his sister 

Caroline. He reached Genoa on June 30, and slept in the bed of 

Charles V. He was back at Fontainebleau on July 11, having 

travelled incognito for eighty-five hours, arrived at St. Cloud 

on July 17, and at the beginning of August went to Boulogne, 

where he suffered the disappointment of which we have 

already spoken. 

The victory of Austerlitz was followed by the peace of 
Pressburg, by which Venice came to France, the Tyrol to 
Bavaria, the Breisgau to Baden, and Salzburg to 
Pressbure Austria. The condition of Prussia was humili- 
ating, but not more so than she deserved. In 
the autumn of 1805, Alexander had visited Berlin and had 
almost persuaded Frederick William to break with Napoleon 
and to join the coalition. Haugwitz was sent to Vienna to 
explain the attitude of Prussia to Napoleon, and to demand the 
evacuation of Hanover. Napoleon asked him to wait till he had 
finished the business in hand, and, when the battle of Aus- 
terlitz had been won and the peace of Pressburg signed, 
The King- Haugwitz found himself in a ridiculous posi- 
doms of tion. Prussia gave up Anspach, Neufchatel, and 

Holland Cleves in exchange for Hanover, the occupation of 

and Naples. w hich immediately involved her in a war with 
England. Napoleon then proceeded to drive out the Bour- 
bons from the kingdom of Naples, which he gave to his 



a.d. 1805] NAPOLEON 683 

brother Joseph, making Holland into a kingdom for his younger 
brother Louis. If his brothers, thus placed, were not always 
faithful to him, they behaved, at any rate, better than Murat 
or Bernadotte. Murat, who had married Napoleon's sister 
Caroline, became Duke of Oleves and Berg, Pauline Borghese 
received Piombino and Guastalla, Bernadotte became Prince 
of Ponte Corvo, Talleyrand of Benevento, and Berthier of 
Neufchatel. No sovereign ever more generously rewarded 
those who assisted him in his work, although they were often 
ungrateful to him. The Confederation of the The Con- 
Rhine was founded, consisting of sixteen sove- federation 
reign German princes, amongst them Bavaria, of tne Rhine. 
Wiirtemberg, Baden, Darmstadt, and Nassau ; and on August 
6, the Holy Roman Empire, which had existed for more than 
a thousand years, came to an end. Francis II. retained the title 
of Emperor of Austria, which he had held since 1804. The 
news of the victory of Austerlitz, and the shattering of the 
carefully laid plans by which the third coalition had been 
formed, killed Pitt. He was at Bath looking at a picture of 

Macklin, the actor, when he heard a courier gallop- ■ 

', TT • 1 , 1 • ° • L Death of 

mg up the street. He said to his companion, pitt 

" Those are despatches for me," and went out 

to get them. In them he read of the disasters, became 

deadly pale, and nearly fainted. The deadly pallor, " the 

Austerlitz look," as it was called, never left his face till he 

died on January 23, 1806. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

NAPOLEON, A.D. 1806-1815. 

The death of Pitt was followed by the accession to office of the 
ministry called " All the Talents," consisting of Grenville as 
prime minister, Fox as foreign secretary, Erskine as lord 
chancellor, Wyndham, and others. Fox, who had 
Death of always opposed the war, endeavoured to make 
peace, but he died on September 23, and his place 
was taken by Howick. The treaty of Schb'nbrunn left Prussia in 
a discontented frame of mind. Her army, proud of the traditions 
of Frederick the Great, felt that they had been abased : her 
harbours were blockaded by England, with whom she was at 
war. Napoleon occupied the fortress of Wesel, and secretly 
offered Hanover, which had been the price of peace for Prussia, 
to England, to whom it had originally belonged. Frederick 
Prussia William also made proposals to the coalition 

declares formed of England, Russia, and Sweden, and on 

War. October 1, 1806, declared war against France. 

Napoleon lost no time in accepting the challenge. He was 
already at Mainz, which he left on the evening of the declara- 
tion, and, passing by Wiirzburg and Basel, reached the line of 
the Saale. The battle of Saalfeld was fought on October 10, in 
which the gallant Prince Louis Ferdinand was killed, and the 
Battles of double battles of Jena and Auerstadt followed on 
Jena and October 14 — Napoleon attacking the division of 
Auerstadt. Prince Hohenlohe, Davout the principal army 
under Duke Charles Ferdinand of Brunswick. The defeat 
was disastrous. The principal fortresses of Prussia, including 
Erfurt, Stettin, Magdeburg, Breslau, and Danzig, fell into the 
hands of the French, and Berlin was occupied by Davout. On 
October 24 the conqueror reached Potsdam, having passed 
through Weimar on October 16, where he had a conversation 
with Goethe. On October 26 he visited the tomb of Frederick 
the Great, took possession of his sword and of his Order of the 
Black Eagle, and sent them with the trophies of victory to be 

684 



a.d. 1806-1815] NAPOLEON 685 



kept at the Invalides. He stayed at Berlin for nearly a month, 
reviewing troops and preparing for the continuance of the 
campaign. On Friday, November 21, he signed 
the famous Berlin Decree, declaring the whole of decree 1 ™ 
the British Isles in a state of blockade, for- 
bidding all intercourse with them, and ordering all English 
property found abroad to be confiscated. In answer to this, 
Orders in Council were issued in 1807 forbidding trade with 
France. It is difficult to say which of the belligerents suffered 
most from these measures, and to what extent, but it is certain 
that they did grave damage to the trade of the Americans. 

War had now to be continued against Russia, during a hard 
Russian winter. Warsaw was reached on December 20, 1806, 
and the indecisive battles of Pultusk and Golymir 
were fought six clays later. Napoleon beat the The Russian 
Russians at Allenstein on February 4, 1807, and 
pursued them with admirable skill. He came up with them at 
Eylau, four days later, when a battle was fought which is gener- 
ally regarded as the first of Napoleon's defeats, but was really 
indecisive. He certainly continued to occupy the field of battle, 
but was soon obliged to retreat. At the beginning of March 
he arrived at Osteroda and established himself in the chateau 
of Finkenstein, which had been built by the tutor of Frederick 
the Great. Here he remained till the end of May, — working 
hard, walking with his brother-in-law, Murat, riding furiously 
when the weather permitted, and holding reviews every day in 
the gardens. During this time he made peace with Persia, and 
received the ambassador of the Sultan. He did not finally 
leave Finkenstein for the field till June 6, and 
fought the battle of Friedland on June 14, when ^iSland 
the failure of Eylau was avenged. The battle 
was begun by Lannes at three in the morning, and was not 
over till eleven at night. Napoleon reached Tilsit on J tine 19. 
It has often been said that the peace of Tilsit was concluded on 
a raft in the middle of the river, but this, of 
course, is not the case. This very beautiful town ^i^t 
is situated on the river Memel, the frontier 
between Prussia and Russia. Negotiations for peace could 
only be carried on in neutral territory, and the only place 
fulfilling this condition was a pavilion of wood, constructed 
on one of the rafts which are so plentiful at this spot. Alex- 
ander and Napoleon met in this pavilion on June 25, and 
were there joined by the king of Prussia on the following clay. 



686 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1806 to 

They there divided the town into three parts, assigned respec- 
tively to the French and Russian emperors and the king, who 
occupied a very subordinate position. The monarchs stayed in 
the town for three weeks till the ratifications were exchanged 
on July 9, the two emperors being the greatest friends, dining 
together continually and walking arm-in-arm through the 
town. On Monday, July 6, the queen, Louise, who had a con- 
tempt for Napoleon, appeared in great state with a carriage 
and six. The following day she dined with Napoleon, and, on 
his offering her a rose, said that she would only receive it if he 
surrendered Magdeburg. Enraged at her rudeness, he threw it 
into the fire. 

It is probably not accurately known what were the conditions 
of Tilsit, because most of the arrangements were contained in 
Rearrange- secre t articles, and in conversations between the 
ment of two emperors. It was certainly disastrous to 

German Prussia. A kingdom of Westphalia was formed, 

States. f which Jerome Bonaparte was to be king, com- 

prising electoral Hesse, Brunswick, and part of Hanover; a 
duchy of Warsaw was created for the king of Saxony as an 
outpost against Russia and Austria ; Bayreuth was given to 
Bavaria and Prussian Friesland to Holland ; Dantzig was 
made a free state, but continued, together with Erfurt, to be 
subordinate to France. Prussia was compelled to join in 
the blockade against England, to reduce her army to 45,000 
men, and to admit French garrisons into her fortresses, and 
she had to pay an indemnity of 150,000,000 thalers. In other 
documents it was agreed that Russia should have a free hand 
in Turkey, provided that Napoleon should be allowed to do 
what he pleased in Europe. Arrangements were also made 
with regard to Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark, and 
even with regard to India. The two emperors certainly regarded 
the world as if it lay helpless before their feet, but what they 
settled had little practical effect, except to stir Prussia to 
revenge seven years later. Meanwhile in England the ministry 
English °^ " -^^ ^ ne Talents " disappeared in March 

Ministries 1807. It had attempted to assist Russia against 
and the Turkey by an expedition to the Dardanelles, 

War. which failed, while another expedition sent 

against Buenos Ayres was equally unsuccessful. It had 
passed an act abolishing the slave trade, but an attempt to 
grant relief to the Catholics led to its fall. In the ministry 
which succeeded it, Portland, a mere figure-head, took the first 



a.d. 1815] NAPOLEON 687 

place, assisted by Perceval as chancellor of the exchequer, 
Canning as foreign minister — one of the greatest men who ever 
held that office — Castlereagh as minister for war and the 
colonies, and Eldon as lord chancellor. One of its first acts 
was to bombard Copenhagen, and to seize the Seizure of 
Danish fleet — an unjust and violent action — on the Danish 
the supposition that it had been part of the policy Fleet. 
of Tilsit to treat Denmark in a similar manner. The result of 
this was to throw Denmark into the hands of France, and to 
extend the continental blockade to the whole of northern Europe. 
Doubtless some of the arrangements at Tilsit had reference 
to Portugal and Spain. Both countries have a large seaboard, 
and Napoleon was naturally anxious to close 
them to English commerce : also the condition kP a * n antl 
of Spain was such as to excite the serious appre- 
hension of the French. From the fact that a Bourbon held 
the throne of Spain, and the existence of the family compact, 
France had been to some extent answerable to Europe for the 
condition of that country, and Napoleon was not the man to 
neglect the duties which the Bourbons had always admitted. 
A treaty had been signed at Madrid on December 19, 1803, 
between the First Consul and the prince regent of Portugal, by 
which, by payment of a million francs a month, Portugal was 
allowed to remain neutral and her freedom of commerce with 
England was secured. The peace of Tilsit put an end to 
this, and, on October 21, a treaty was concluded at Treaty of 
Fontainebleau by arrangement with the Spanish Fontaine- 
queen's favourite Godoy — " the Prince of the bleau. 
Peace," — for the partitioning of Portugal into three states, all 
under Spanish control, of which Godoy was to have the south, with 
the title of Prince of the Algarves. The oversea possessions 
of Portugal were to be divided between France and Spain, and 
a combined force from the two countries was to 
march into Portugal under the command of Junot. Portugal 
On November 13, 1807, an announcementjappeared 
in the Moniteur, " The house of Braganza has ceased to reign," 
and a fortnight later the prince regent sailed for Brazil, 
taking his treasures with him, and about 15,000 of his adherents. 
The condition of the Spanish court at this time The 
was abject ; the queen was the tool of Godoy, and Spanish 
the king, Charles IV., was little better than a Court, 
cretin ; the crown prince, Ferdinand, was devoted to Bourbon 
interests, so that Godoy and the queen threw themselves into 



688 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1806 to 

the arms of Napoleon. The peace of Pressburg, which gave 
Naples to Joseph Bonaparte, roused for a moment a patriotic 
feeling in Spain, but it was soon quelled by the victory of 
Jena. The crown prince saw no escape, except to vie with 
Godoy for the support of the emperor, and the shameless queen 
replied by declaring him to be a bastard. On December 30, 
he was arrested and excluded from the succession on the charge 
of having conspired against the king's life. 

It was impossible that Napoleon could allow this state of 

things to continue. If bad government has ever justified the 

intervention of one state in the affairs of another 

in Siaani 10 — anc ^ ^i >stoi T ^ s ^ u ^ °f sucn cases — France was 
justified in her interference in the government 
of Spain. In December 1807, Dupont with 24,000 men occupied 
Valladolid, and on January 9, 1808, Moncey marched with an 
army of like strength into Castile. A large army of observation 
was collected at Bordeaux, and filled the passes of the Pyrenees. 
Prince Ferdinand sought with tears the forgiveness of his father, 
his mother, and Godoy, and asked to be allowed to marry 
a Bonaparte princess, an alliance which Charles IV. humbly 
solicited from the emperor. It was hardly likely that either 
Napoleon or his brother Lucien would consent to such a 
humiliation. Muratwas sent to Spain to command the French 
troops, but the Spanish people, always bitterly opposed to 
foreign rule, rose in rebellion at Aranjuez and threatened the 
lives of the royal family, upon which Charles IV. dismissed 
Godoy from all his offices, to the great delight of the people. 
On March 19, 1808, the weak king abdicated in favour of 
his son Ferdinand, whom he had recently declared incapable of 
reigning, while his mother called him a bastard. In default 
of any one better, he was the idol of the people, and was 
received with acclamation, while Godoy was imprisoned in 
the castle of Villa Viciosa and his property confiscated. 
Napoleon naturally hesitated to accept this arrangement. 
Ferdinand made a triumphal entry into Madrid, but was 
received with coolness by Murat and Beauharnais. Ferdinand, 
in despair, sought Napoleon at Bayonne, where he arrived 
on April 20. But Napoleon saw the truth. He wrote to 
Talleyrand, " The prince of the Asturias is very stupid, very 
unprincipled, and a bitter enemy of France." The plot 
deepened, and the tragi-comedy became more confused. Godoy 
was released from prison, and reached Bayonne on April 26, 
and a few days later was followed by the king and queen. 



a.d. 1815] NAPOLEON 689 

Father and son met in Napoleon's presence ; the king over- 
whelmed the prince with the most violent abuse, and com- 
pelled him to resign the crown which he had re- Charles IV. 
ceived from his father's hands, so that he could do and his Son 
what he liked with it. At the beginning of May, at Bayonne. 
a popular rising took place in Madrid. When Napoleon heard 
of it, he told the king that this disorder must be put an 
end to. Another scene took place, in which father and mother 
rivalled each other in abusing their unhappy son. Napoleon 
was shocked at this exhibition of undignified behaviour. " What 
creatures they are ! " he said on retiring to Marrac. On May 
6, Ferdinand resigned the crown to his father, and placed 
himself and his brother under his protection. In the meantime, 
Godoy gave Napoleon a document in which Charles IV. 
surrendered all his rights over the Spanish crown to the 
emperor of the French, as the only sovereign who could preserve 
order under present circumstances. The prince of the Asturias 
was sent with his two brothers to Talleyrand's country house 
at Valencay, where he employed himself in embroidering dresses 
for the Virgin. The king and queen went first to Compiegne, 
and then to Eome, where they both died at the beginning of 
1819. They were allowed by the French government a pension 
of ten million francs. 

Joseph reluctantly gave up his kingdom of Naples, where 
he had shown himself an excellent sovereign, left Bayonne 
on July 9, was accompanied to the Bidassoa by Joseph, 
his elder brother, who took a most affectionate King of 
leave of him, placing on his breast the cross Spain, 
of the Legion of Honour, which he took from his own, and 
entered Madrid on July 20 among the acclamations of the 
people. He chose excellent ministers and founded an enlight- 
ened constitutional government, which was supported by the 
best elements in the nation, and would have regenerated the 
country, if that had been possible. But these efforts were 
shattered against the implacable enmity of England. The 
new sovereign found the peninsula in a condition of great 
disorder. Asturias had risen in May 1808 at 
the very time when its prince was sacrificing Resistance. 
its independence at Marrac. Insurrections broke 
out in other places, directed by committees and juntas, who 
were more or less respectable, but who depended on the 
assistance of fanatical priests and reckless bandits, who were 
guilty of every kind of cruelty and outrage. The English 

2 x 



690 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1806 to 

press dignified these crimes by the name of patriotism. 
Spain has always been a country which it is difficult either 
to subdue or to combine, but this national trait has been 
to it a source of weakness rather than of strength. France's 
prestige suffered a severe humiliation in the capitulation of 

The Capitu- 20,000 of her soldiers under Dupont at Baylen 

lation of on July 22, 1808, the result of which was to 

Baylen. oblige Joseph to leave Madrid, and stimulate 

Florida Bianca, as president of the local Junta, to proclaim 
Ferdinand VII. from the balcony of the palace at Madrid. 
Arthur Wellesley, who had distinguished himself in India 
and afterwards bore the immortal name of Wellington, had 
landed in Mondego Bay in 1808, and had defeated 

Vimiero ^ e French at Yimiero on August 16. Junot's 

army would probably have suffered the fate of 

Dupont's at Baylen, had not Sir Henry Burrard, who superseded 

Wellesley, allowed it to depart in peace by the capitulation 

signed at Cintra, ten days later. 

Napoleon determined to restore his brother by his own 

authority. Seven army corps, commanded by Ney, Lannes, 

Soult, Yictor, Saint Cyr, Mortier, and Junot — 

in^ain 1 a ma g nificent arm y of 200,000 men— left Bayonne 
in November, and invaded Spain. Their oppon- 
ents — Oastafios, Blake, and the hero Sir John Moore— were 
powerless to withstand the onslaught of Napoleon, and the 
fiery charge of the pass of Somo Sierra by the Polish lancers 
is an emblem of the whole campaign. Napoleon and Joseph 
entered Madrid on December 9. On January 1, 1809, Napoleon, 
in pursuit of the English army, reached Astorga, where he 
heard that Austria was arming against him, and that Fouche 
and Talleyrand were intriguing in the interests of Murat and 
Caroline. He determined to return to France, and arrived at 
his capital in the morning of January 23, having ridden from 
Yalladolid to Burgos with a change of horses, in six hours. 
The command of the army in Spain was entrusted to Soult, 
but after the withdrawal of the master spirit energy languished, 
and Sir John Moore's army was able to embark at Oorunna, 
before Napoleon reached Paris. Saragossa, bravely defended 
by Palafox and the famous maid, was taken in February 1809 
by Lannes, who sent Palafox as prisoner to Yincennes, and 
Soult, with ambitious hopes for his own advancement, estab- 
lished himself in Oporto at the end of March. 

In the meantime, Austria, inspired by England, was arming, 



a.d. 1815] NAPOLEON 691 

and on April 13, Napoleon, after three months of the life of 
a brilliant court at Paris, left to join his army in Germany. The 
first battle was fought at Eckmiihl nine days Austria 
later, and the important city of Regensburg was renews 
taken on April 23, Napoleon being wounded the War. 
in the foot as he was examining the fortifications. The march 
to Vienna continued. The battle of Ebelsberg was fought 
at the beginning of May, and Napoleon slept at Schonbrunn on 
May 10, after a marvellous campaign which even his enemies 
cannot refuse to admire. But, before he could be master of 
Austria, he had to defeat the Archduke Charles, who was estab- 
lished in the neighbourhood with 80,000 men. The effort was 
made in the battles of Aspern and Essling ; where, after two 
days' fighting, on May 21 and 22, his army had to retire into 
the island of Lobau. This is one of the most remarkable epochs 
of Napoleon's career. Sleeping at Schonbrunn, he spent ten 
days in this island preparing for the great victory which was 
to obliterate the memory of these defeats. After a month 
of further preparation, during which he suffered an irreparable 
loss by the death of Lannes, and was excommunicated by the 
pope, he established his headquarters at Lobau on July 1, and 
won the battle of Wagram on July 6. The 
treaty of Vienna, which put an end to the war, v ? ea ^ 
was signed on October 14, 1809. Austria gave up 
Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, and the Innviertel to Bavaria ; Cracow 
and a part of Galicia were divided between Russia and the 
grand duke of Poland ; and a new province of Illyria was 
formed, to be controlled by Napoleon, out of Carinthia, Car- 
niola, and Dalmatia. Alexander tried in vain to mitigate the 
punishment of Austria, and the difference of opinion gave 
the first blow to the friendship between the two emperors, 
which had begun at Tilsit and been consolidated in the brilliant 
congress held at Erfurt in the autumn of 1808. 

The arrangements of the peace of Vienna were not generally 
accepted, and led to the popular risings in the Tyrol of which 
the hero was Andreas Hofer, who paid for his 
patriotism by his death at Mantua ; Schill also g °*f* and 
was shot at Wesel for his rising at Stralsund, and 
steps were attempted to murder Napoleon at Schonbrunn. 
Wellesley defeated Soult at Oporto and Victor at Talavera 
Talavera ; but, now created Viscount Wellington, and Torres 
he retired to Portugal and entrenched himself Vedras. 
in the lines of Torres Vedras. An expedition of the English to 



692 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. 1806 to 

Walcheren, an island on the Scheldt, undertaken in July 1809, 
with brilliant hopes, ended in disastrous failure, through the 
■pjjg incompetence of its leaders, Lord Chatham and 

Walcheren Sir Richard Strachan. If this army could have 
Expedition, landed at the mouth of the Weser and the Elbe, 
it might have gained over Prussia to the coalition and insured 
the victory of Austria. But the stars in their courses fought 
for Napoleon. The army was more than decimated by fever, 
and had to retire. The discussions on this result led to a duel 
between Castlereagh and Canning, in which Canning was 
wounded, and both had to retire from the cabinet. A new 
ministry was formed of which Perceval was the head, with 
Marquis Wellesley, the statesman, brother of Wellington, as 
foreign secretary, and Liverpool in charge of the colonies and 
the war. 

After the treaty of Vienna, Napoleon stood at the height of 
his power, but he had no heir, and without a successor of his 
own blood it was probable that his empire would break up at 
his death and the glory of France would disappear. He there- 
fore determined to divorce Josephine, and to take 
Divorce of another wife. This was the worst action of his 
life, and is inexcusable. It was due partly to his 
desire for a marriage which would bring him into the family of 
the sovereigns of Europe, a far more important matter in those 
days than it would be now. Also, divorce was then considered 
a slight affair, and could be effected by the common consent 
of husband and wife. In a family council, held at Paris on 
December 15, 1809, papers were signed by the emperor and 
empress, expressing their desire to separate, and Josephine 
retired for the remainder of her life to Malmaison with a sub- 
stantial income. It became necessary to contract a new alliance. 
Offers were made to Russia, which were defeated by the opposi- 
tion of the empress mother, and by the intrigues of Metternich 
the prize w T as given to Marie Louise of Austria, who reached 
Napoleon's Compiegne on March 27, 1810, and was solemnly 
Second married to Napoleon at Paris on April 2. It was 

Marriage. marked, as the union of Louis XVI. and Marie 
Antoinette had been, by a terrible calamity, the ball-room at the 
Austrian embassy catching fire and a princess perishing in the 
flames. On March 20, 181 1, a son was born, who received the title 
of King of Rome, his birth being celebrated by festivities from 
Danzig to Cadiz. After Napoleon's marriage ensued a time of 
peace, except for the war in the Spanish peninsula, conducted 



a.d. 1815] NAPOLEON 693 

by Wellington. He fought no battles himself between Wagram 
and Borodino, but took steps to confirm and consolidate his 
power. In April 1810, Louis abdicated the throne of Holland, 
and his country was incorporated with France ; while a grand 
duchy of Frankfort was created in the heart of Germany, which 
was intended for Eugene Beauharnais. 

But all these plans were ruined by the expedition to Russia, 
which Napoleon at a later period condemned as a serious error. 
The causes of it are still obscure, but it did not Napoleon 
entirely arise from the unrestrained ambition of and 
the emperor. Alexander not merely cooled to- Alexander. 
wards Napoleon, partly on account of his Polish policy, partly 
from the pressure of the continental blockade, but was also un- 
faithful to his friendship, and showed signs of joining the coali- 
tion of his enemies. Napoleon preferred to meet dangers rather 
than wait till they broke upon him, and made preparations for 
the invasion of Russia, which recalled the similar efforts made 
by the Persian empire for the subjugation of Greece. After a 
brilliant assembly at Dresden, Napoleon, having secured the 
assistance of Prussia and Austria, set out in the The 
middle of May with an army of half a million Invasion 
men, more than a thousand guns, and twenty of Russia, 
thousand baggage waggons, to cross the Memel. The left wino-, 
consisting mainly of Prussians, Bavarians, and Poles, destined 
for the conquest of Courland and Livonia, marched along the 
Baltic under the command of Macdonald. The right wing, con- 
sisting mainly of Austrians under Schwarzenberg, was opposed 
to the southern Russian army on the lower Bug. The central 
army, commanded by Napoleon himself, crossed the Memel in 
the middle of June. The Russians pursued a policy of retreat, 
and the first engagement took place at Smolensk on August 17. 
The great battle of Borodino, otherwise called La Moskowa, was 
fought on September 7, 1812, and the emperor entered the 
deserted city of Moscow on September 14. Napoleon supposed 
that the capture of the capital would put an end to the war, and 
that Alexander would sue for peace, but a totally different 
event occurred. Moscow, fired by incendiaries acting under the 
orders of Rostopchin, was entirely burnt to ashes, with the ex- 
ception of the Kremlin. This was a fatal blow The Retreat 
to Napoleon's hopes. He lingered on, always from 
hoping for overtures which never came, and did Moscow, 
not leave Moscow till October 19, when the autumn was well 
advanced. The retreat was full of horrors, which culminated 



694 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1806 to 

at the passage of the Beresina at the end of November. On 
December 3, knowing that his presence in Paris was absolutely 
necessary for the safety of his empire and of the retreating 
army, with' great courage, he left the army in the evening, 
reached Dresden on December 14, and the Tuileries on December 
19, where he had to announce his defeat to his ministers, to the 
Council and the Senate. Out of 600,000 men, 182,000 horses, 
and 1372 cannon, with which he invaded Russia, only 68,000 
men, 18,000 horses, and 120 guns returned. 

Disaster followed disaster. At the end of December, General 
Yorck deserted the French, and made a treaty of neutrality 
with the; Russians under Diebitsch, at Tauroggen, an act of 
doiibtful heroism. In January 1813, the Prussian king left 
Berlin for Breslau. A month later he issued an appeal to 
his people in the name of liberty, and at the end of February 
concluded an alliance with Alexander at Kalisch. The whole 
German nation rose, but they could not have 

RiSr| Jerman have done so if they had not learnt the lesson 
of independence from Napoleon himself, and if 
they had not been feci and clothed by English gold. Napoleon 
met the attack with efforts of superhuman energy. He 
collected a huge army, deficient only in cavalry, and reached 
Weimar on April 27. He fought the battle of Liitzen, a name 
immortalised by the death of Gustavus Adolphus, on May 2, 
liberated Saxony, and occupied Dresden. He hoped to get 
possession of Berlin, but it was occupied by Swedes, commanded 
by the ungrateful Bernadotte. Grossing the Elbe, he engaged in 
the important battle of Bautzen on May 2, and defeated Bliicher 
and the Prussians, but committed the fatal error of concluding 
an armistice, which was eventually prolonged till June 20. 
England spent much money freely in subsidising the Russians 
and the Prussians, and used all her efforts to secure the 
adhesion of the Austrians to the coalition, in which she 
eventually succeeded, notwithstanding the powerful arguments 
of Napoleon in his interview with Metternich at Dresden. 
For Austria this was a most disastrous step, and led eventually to 
her abasement and the elevation of Prussia to be head of the 
German empire. 

After the termination of the armistice, Napoleon found 
himself at Dresden opposed to a world in arms, the allies under 
Schwarzenberg numbering not less than 800,000 men. The 
Bohemian army under Wittgenstein and Barclay de Tolly, 
supported by Frederick William and Alexander, contained 



a.d. 1815] NAPOLEON 695 

250,000 men, the Swedes of the northern army numbered 
80,000, Bliicher was at the head of the Silesian army of 100,000 
strong. To these forces, Napoleon could oppose 515,000 men, 
180,000 under himself at Dresden, 130,000 under Ney in 
Silesia, 72,000 under Oudinot ready to attack Berlin, and 
37,000 under Davout in Hamburg, the rest occupying the 
fortresses on the Elbe and forming a reserve. 

On August 26, 1813, Napoleon won the brilliant victory 
of Dresden. During two days' fighting, the Russians and 
Prussians were driven back from the assault ; 
the Austrians were captured almost to a man n a , e 
by Murat ; and Moreau, who had just returned 
from America, was mortally wounded. The allies retreated 
to Bohemia and crossed the Erzgebirge, followed by Vandamme, 
St. Cyr, and Mortier. Napoleon rode as far as Pirna, and then 
returned, some say from illness, some because there was no 
further need of his presence, but in doing this he lost the 
chance of his life. Vandamme, crossing the mountains, was 
resisted by the allies at Kulm, and, receiving no help and 
being attacked in the rear by Kleist, who descended from 
Nollendorf, was defeated and taken prisoner. If Napoleon 
had been there, he could easily have captured the three allied 
sovereigns, who had mounted a hill to witness the battle. 
But he had determined not to pursue the enemy into 
Bohemia, as his mind was set on crushing Bernadotte and 
retaking Berlin. In this he made a fatal error, and Kulm was 
the beginning of the end. One Job's post after 
another reached him at Norden : Oudinot was * 
beaten at Grossbeeren, Ney at Dennewitz, Mac- 
donald by Bliicher on the Katzbach ; Schwartzenberg crossed the 
mountains into Saxony ; Bliicher crossed the Elbe to unite 
with the army of the north ; and Bavaria joined the coalition 
by the treaty of Ried. Napoleon spent four miserable days 
at the little castle of Diiben, considering whether he should 
withstand the allies on their inarch towards the Rhine, or 
by a bold stroke collect the troops who were garrisoning 
the fortresses of the Elbe and fall upon their rear. He 
decided upon the first course, and the battle of Leipzig was the 
result. 

The " Battle of the Nations," as it was called, which lasted 
from Thursday to Tuesday in the third week of October, is one 
of the greatest of modern times. It might be said paradoxically 
that there never was a battle of Leipzig, and that Napoleon 



696 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1806 to 

won it. On Thursday there was a brilliant cavalry skirmish, 
on Friday repose : on Saturday took place the battle of Wachau, 
in which Napoleon was completely successful, 
L a . ? nearly capturing the allied monarchs, who were 

watching the battle from their windsor chairs ; but 
the defeat of Marmont at Mockern by Bliicher and Bernadotte 
rendered the victory useless. Sunday, October 17, was a day 
of rest, on which Napoleon made propositions of peace through 
the Austrian general Merveldt. On Monday, October 18, 
he fought what is popularly called the battle of Leipzig, 
but he did so, without any hope of victory, to cover his 
retreat, and the defection of the Saxons during the struggle 
had no influence on the result. On Tuesday he fell back with 
slow and sullen dignity towards Erfurt, which he reached on 
October 23, sleeping in the same apartment which he had 
occupied in the days of his splendour. On the last day of 
the month he arrived at Frankfort, having thoroughly beaten 
the traitorous Bavarians at Hanau, when they endeavoured 
to intercept his march, and on November ] he was at 
Saint Cloud. 

The results of the battle of Leipzig were the entire destruc- 
tion of the Napoleonic policy in Germany, the liberation of 
the light bank of the Rhine, the dissolution of the Confederation 
of the Rhine, the recovery of Holland by Biilow, the restoration 
of German princes to their dominions, and the loss of the 
Elbe fortresses. The allies had to consider whether they should 
rest content with their exploits, or should cross the Rhine into 
France. They offered terms of peace to Napoleon, which it 
was impossible that he should accept — indeed, they were never 
intended to be accepted. Napoleon could not with any honour 
leave France smaller than he had received it. 

Wellington had taken advantage of the disasters of Napoleon 

to regain Spain. On March 6, 1811, Graham won the battle 

of Barossa ; Wellington defeated Massena at 

Wellington Fuentes d'Onoro on "May 5, and took Almeida ; 
on May 16, Beresford defeated Soult at Albuera. 
On January 19, 1812, Wellington stormed and captured the 
frontier fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, and on April 6 that of Badajoz. 
On May 11, Perceval was assassinated, and a new ministry was 
formed with Liverpool as first lord of the treasury and Castlereagh 
as foreign secretary, Palmerston being secretary at war — the worst 
ministry that ever governed England excepting that of ITaiiey and 
St. John in the reign of Anne. It lasted, however, till 1827. On 



a.d. 1815] NAPOLEON 697 

July 22, 1812, Wellington defeated Marmont at Salamanca, also 

called Arapiles, and entered Madrid, but was afterwards obliged 

to retire into Portugal. The disasters of the 

Russian compaien called into existence the fourth „ e ° ur 
,.,. . r & m . . Coalition, 

coalition, in which Lngland was joined by Prussia, 

Austria, Russia, and Sweden. King Joseph was entirely 
defeated by Wellington in the battle of Vittoria, on June 21, 
1813, and Soult in the battle of the Pyrenees in July. 

When the invasion of France had been decided upon, 
Schwarzenberg, in command of the chief army, passed the 
frontiers at Basel, while Bliicher, on New Year's 
night, 1814, crossed the Rhine at Caub. Alex- ^^^ ° f 
ander was rather a hindrance to the allies, because 
he was not so bitter against Napoleon as Bliicher and the 
Austrians, nor was he so well disposed to the Bourbons — he 
rather favoured Bernadotte. Also, owing to the influence of his 
old tutor Laharpe, he was anxious to spare Switzerland the 
inconveniences of war. Napoleon's campaign of 1814 was almost 
hopeless from the beginning, but none is so favourable to his 
fame. He had with very inferior forces to make head against 
two or three armies advancing from different sides, and he 
not infrequently beat them. He knew that a decisive victory 
might at any time destroy the coalition and bring about a 
trustworthy peace. The indecisive battle of Brienne, on January 
9, was followed by the victory of Schwarzenberg and Bliicher 
at La Rothiere on February 1. But Bliicher was worsted at 
Ohampaubert, Montmirail, Chateau Thierry, and Vauchamps ; 
and would have been entirely crushed if it had not been for 
the cowardly treachery of Colonel Moreau at Soissons. Schwar- 
zenberg lost at Montereau, but won at Bar-sur-Aube. Then 
followed the union of Bliicher with Biilow, and the disasters of 
Napoleon at Craonne and at Laon. Napoleon, tired of these 
marches and counter-marches, resolved to place his whole 
army between the allies and the frontier and to cut off their 
communications. But his plans were discovered, a march 
on Paris was determined upon, Marmont and ^ne Allies 
Mortier were defeated at La Fere Champenoise, enter 
and by Marmont's shameful capitulation the Paris, 
allies were allowed to occupy Paris. Napoleon, hearing of this 
disaster, hastened along the post road till he reached the post 
house at Juvisy, and then, seeing that all was lost, retired to 
Fontainebleau. On March 31, the allies entered Paris in 
triumph. The allied sovereigns declared that Napoleon had 



698 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1806 to 

ceased to reign, that the Bourbons were restored, and that, 
until Louis XVIII. arrived to take up his sceptre, a provisional 
government should be formed with Talleyrand at its head. 
Napoleon wished to continue the ^struggle, but 
Abdicates ^ e was °PP 0Se d by his marshals, and, after a 
week's struggle, he resigned, for himself and his 
family, the thrones of • France and Italy. The treaty of 
Fontainebleau, to which England was not a party, although 
the English government was acquainted with its contents, 
made Napoleon emperor of Elba on the condition that he 
should take no political part in the affairs of France, and 
promised him a sufficient subsidy for himself and his family, 
not a penny of which was ever paid. On April 20, he 
took solemn farewell of his generals in the courtyard of the 
palace, and embarking on an English ship, the Undaunted, 
Captain Usher, reached Porta Ferraio, the capital of Elba, 
on the evening of Tuesday, May 3, 1814. 

The sojourn of Napoleon at Elba lasted from May 4, 1814, 
till February 26, 1815. During this time, he was engaged 
in developing with feverish activity the resources 
Elb^L° e ° n a °^ ^ ie ^ s ^ anc b which he has made immortal. 
He enjoyed the society of his mother and of 
his devoted sister Pauline, but with revolting cruelty he was 
deprived of that of his wife and child. Indeed, during his 
absence, Marie Louise had been deliberately corrupted by 
Neipperg, whom she afterwards married, by the orders of 
Metternich, and probably with the connivance of her father. 
He was not a prisoner, as is generally supposed : this was, indeed, 
emphatically asserted by Castlereagh in Parliament, but his 
landing in France was undoubtedly a breach of the treaty of 
Fontainebleau, which had, however, already been broken by 
the allies. It would have been better if he could have delayed 
his departure till the Congress of Vienna had broken up, but 
it was impossible to do so, as he had no money, and steps were 
being taken to remove him to some safer place of residence 
— the Canaries or St. Helena. He left the island on board 
the Inconstant, a frigate of his own, and reached Golfe Juan on 
Monday, March 1, 1815, with about a thousand men and no 
horses. 

Napoleon's march from Cannes to the Tuileries has no 
parallel in history. As he passed, he was saluted with equal 
enthusiasm by the army and the people. He forbade his 
troops to fire a shot. Reaching La Mure on March 7, he 



a.d. 1815] NAPOLEON 699 

found himself opposed by a battalion of the line and a com- 
pany of engineers, who were ordered by their commanding 
officer to fire. He commanded his soldiers to 
place their muskets under their left arms, and ad- , e _J :e1 ' urns 
vanced towards the enemy, saying who he was, 
and telling them to shoot if they wished to kill their emperor. 
After a moment's hesitation, they placed their shakos on their 
bayonets, acclaimed him as emperor, and marched with him to 
Grenoble. At Lyons, which he reached on March 15, he was 
joined by Ney, who had left Paris with a promise that he 
would bring the invader back in a cage. On March 20, he 
spent two hours at Fontainebleau, full of memories of his 
abdication, and at Juvisy, where he had learnt just a year 
before that Paris had been surrendered by Marmont, he heard 
that Louis XVIII. had left the Tuileries, and in the early 
evening his carriage rolled into the courtyard of the Oaroussel, 
and he was borne up the stairs into his palace, which he found 
decorated for his reception, and full of the same brilliant court 
which had thronged it in the days of his splendour. In no 
more emphatic manner could the people of France have 
expressed their intention to be ruled by him and by no 
one else. 

The reign called the Hundred Days, which was really less, 
was a period of very hard work and terrible anxiety. Napoleon 
showed every desire for peace, and approached the f^Q 
powers of Europe with that object, but his Hundred 
ambassadors were not received and his letters Days, 
were returned unopened. The allies, who had not left Vienna, 
signed a paper declaring him a public enemy, and exposing him 
to the vengeance of united Europe, a discreditable document, 
which Wellington should never have authorised, for England 
had always held that France had a right to choose her own 
sovereign. Armies collected for the invasion of France, which 
had done no wrong, as the Bourbons had voluntarily renounced 
the crown which they were incapable of wearing with efficiency 
or honour. The campaign of Waterloo has no justification. 
It was condemned on principles of liberty and self-government 
by a powerful minority in both Houses of Parliament, but the 
policy of Liverpool and Castlereagh prevailed, and a large 
number of the troops who fought against Napoleon at Waterloo 
were fed and clothed by the produce of English taxation. 
Napoleon, having collected an army by incredible exertions, 
went out to meet his foes. On June 1, he distributed eagles to 



700 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. isog to 

his army in the Champs de Mai. On June 7, he opened the 
Chambers which had been summoned in virtue of the constitu- 
tion drawn up for him by Benjamin Constant, and called La 
Benjamine, a step which it would have been wiser to defer 
till the conclusion of the war. On Sunday, June 11, he heard 
his last mass at the Tuileries, and gave his last audiences, 
leaving next day to join the army at Avesnes. 

It has been said that Napoleon, in the campaign of Waterloo, 
did not exhibit his usual energy of mind and body ; but there is 
The no foundation for this opinion. No plans were 

Waterloo ever more skilfully made, or carried out with 
Campaign. more secrecy and despatch. Wellington was en- 
tirely taken by surprise, expecting an attack from another 
quarter, and probably Bliicher also. But Napoleon fought under 
great difficulties. His troops had lost their instinct for war and 
habit of instant obedience. Soult was a poor substitute for 
Berthier as chief of the staff. And Murat, in disgrace at Mar- 
seilles, had not been allowed to command the cavalry ; his 
presence might have changed the fortune of the war. Debouch- 
ing from Charleroi on June 15, Napoleon defeated Blucher at 
Ligny on the following clay, while Ney attacked Quatre Bras, 
which he failed to occupy, in a battle which would have been more 
decisive if the corps of d'Erlon had not manoeuvred idly between 
the two armies. On June 17, Napoleon approached the ground 
which both Wellington and himself had chosen for the scene of 
the decisive struggle, and slept that evening at the farm of Le 
Caillou. But he spent most of the night in visiting his out- 
posts, and conferring with Ney. At ten, he held his last review 
on the plateau of La Belle Alliance, and the battle began 
shortly after midday. There was no manoeuvring. Napoleon 
exerted all his powers to drive the English from the ridge, 
which Wellington held with incredible firmness and tenacity. 
As Wellington said, when asked to give an account of the battle, 
" We pounded and they pounded, and we pounded hardest." 
Napoleon was so confident of victory that he had detached a 
large body of troops under Grouchy, partly to keep back the 
Prussians, which he failed to do, and partly to secure the ruin 
of the English army when its lines had been forced. In the 
afternoon, the Prussians made its appearance on the French 
light, and in the evening, as the emperor was arranging the Old 
Guard for a last attack, Wellington gave the order, " The whole 
line will now advance," and the defeat of the French was com- 
plete. Waterloo is certainly one of the decisive battles of the 



a.d. 1815] NAPOLEON 701 

world, and victory was undoubtedly due to the unrivalled 
courage and determination of the British soldiers, and to the 
iron tenacity of Wellington. But Wellington said himself that 
it was a very close run thing, the most close run thing he ever 
saw, and that the battle would probably not have been won if 
he had not been there. For Napoleon, the defeat was a crush- 
ing blow, and to the day of his death he never could understand 
why he had been beaten. Whatever we may think of the 
justice of the war, all the praise which has. been given either to 
the general or to the soldiers who won the battle is less than 
they deserve. 

Napoleon reached the Elysee on the morning of June 21. 
He was deserted by the Chambers, was unable to rouse France 
to resist the enemy, and, on the following day, abdicated in 
favour of his son. He went to Rochefort, hoping to find ships 
which would take him to America ; but, this hope having failed, 
he opened negotiations on July 10 for seeking a refuge in 
England. It is probable that he thought that he would be 
received in England as a guest, but it is certain that the 
English government had no other view than that of capturing 
him as a prisoner, of which they were eagerly desirous. The 
Bellerophon took him to Plymouth and Torbay, where he was 
received by the acclamations of an enthusiastic crowd. But 
Liverpool, being prevented by the magnanimity of Wellington 
from delivering him as a prisoner to Louis XVIIL, on the condi- 
tion that he should be shot as a rebel, determined to send him 
to St. Helena — a breach of the law of nations, and a blot upon 
the fair name of England. Admiral Keith, who was under 
personal obligations to Napoleon, had to make the announce- 
ment to him, and Napoleon answered that he would prefer 
death. 

Napoleon landed at St. Helena on October 18, 1815, and 
lived till May 5, 1821- — years of dolorous and despairing mono- 
tony which led eventually to his death. He was 
deprived of the exercise which was necessary st^JleiLr 
to his health : he was refused the companionship 
not only of his wife and child, but of his mother, whom he 
loved with passionate devotion, and who had never left him. 
If the British government did nothing to kill him, it 
certainly did nothing to keep him alive. At the very time 
when he was too weak to crawl out of his bath without 
assistance, Bathurst wrote to Hudson Lowe to redouble his 
vigilance. After weeks of intense suffering and hard work, 



702 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1806-1815 

he passed away on the evening of the fifth of May, in the 
midst of a great storm. An officer announced the news to 
George IV. in the words, " Sir, your greatest enemy is dead." 
The king said, "Good God, when did she die?" thinking that 
it was his wife. Liverpool, in sending him to St. Helena, 
said that he would soon be forgotten ; but now, nearly a 
hundred years after Waterloo, his career is still the subject of 
minute investigation, and the more it is examined, the more the 
hero of it is admired. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

REACTION IN EUROPE, A.D. 1815-1830— ENGLAND, A.D. 
1815-1837— EUROPE, A.D. 1830-1848. 

The second peace of Paris, signed on November 20, 1815, 
was very different from the first, and France was severely 
punished for having, even for a short time, 
submitted to the government of Napoleon. The . p ar ig Ce 
country was seriously reduced in extent, and 
condemned to pay 790,000,000 francs towards the expenses of 
the war, to receive a federal army of 150,000 men in seventeen 
frontier fortresses, to accept the restoration of the Bourbons, 
and to banish the Bonaparte family from France, under penalty 
of death. The sentence of banishment also fell upon the civil 
and military officials who had supported the emperor during 
the Hundred Days, as well as all the regicides, who had voted 
for the death of Louis XVI., including Fouche, Carnot, and 
Sieyes — a startling exhibition of severity and ingratitude. The 
Congress of Vienna at length concluded its sittings Results 
— its decisions being founded on the principles of f the 
legitimacy, which were put forward by Talleyrand, Congress 
with the object of rewarding Napoleon's enemies °* Vienna, 
and punishing his friends. Its leaders supposed that by 
ignoring everything that had been done in the last twenty- 
five years they continued the course of peaceful progress which 
had been interrupted by the Revolution and the Empire. 
Fortunately, few of its arrangements have lasted till our own 
time. Austria was increased by Illyria, Dalmatia, Lombardy, 
Venice, the Tyrol, Salzburg, and other districts ; Prussia re- 
ceived large accessions of territory ; Weimar, Oldenburg, and 
the two Mecklenburgs were made grand duchies ; Frankfort, 
Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck became free towns ; a German 
Confederation was formed, which afterwards became a laughing- 
stock ; Russia was aggrandised by the addition of a kingdom 
of Poland ; Belgium was joined to Holland, and Norway to 
Sweden ; Marie Louise received the duchy of Parma, as a 

703 



704 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1815 to 

reward for deserting her husband ; Sardinia recovered Savoy 
and received Genoa, to the disgust of English liberals, who 
wished to turn it into a republic ; Naples went back to the 
Bourbons, and Murat was shot in an attempt to recover his 
crown ; England was presented with Malta, Heligoland, and 
the Cape, together with the protectorate of the Ionian Islands, 
and, of course, regained Hanover. It is hardly worth while 
to describe the elaborate constitution of the German federa- 
tion which induced so many changes and proved so unsatis- 
factory. The rulers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia formed 
between themselves a Holy Alliance, with which 
Alliance^ England and the pope would have nothing to do. 
It proposed to found an international state 
system based upon the principles of Christian law, but became 
an instrument for the suppression of all liberal opinions ; for, 
though it was founded with idealistic enthusiasm by Alexander, 
it was directed by the narrow-minded and heartless Metternich. 
The object of Napoleon was to found a democratic empire, 
an idea which is expressed upon his coins, on which we 
Reaction ^ n ^ " Napoleon Empereur " on one side and 
and Revolu- " Republique Francaise" on the other. By the 
tion- system which was established at his fall the 

aspirations of democracy were crushed. Castlereagh told the 
English Parliament that the aspirations of Italy for unity must 
give way to the general welfare, and Metternich said that his 
master the emperor wished to extinguish the spark of Italian 
unity and the idea of a constitution, and that for that reason he 
had broken up the Italian army and abolished all institutions 
which could pave the way for a great Italian kingdom. He 
desired to destroy the spirit of Jacobinism, and to secure the 
repose of the peninsula. But the poet tells us that the flag of 
freedom, though torn, was yet flying, driven as a thunder-cloiid 
against the wind ; and between 1815 and 1848 three waves of 
revolution passed over Europe, each more violent than its pre- 
decessor. The first, in 1820, affected mainly the southern 
nations, — Spain, Portugal, and Italy, — although it had some 
influence upon both France and England ; the second, in 1830, 
although it failed of immediate results in Italy, produced a 
change of government in France and the separation of Belgium 
from Holland, and was among the causes which enabled the 
Reform Bill to be passed in England ; while the third, in 1848, 
the most violent of the three, established a republic in France, 
and shook almost every throne in Europe except our own. 



a.d. 1830] REACTION IN EUROPE 705 

The congress held at Aachen in 1818 had the object of 
establishing the Holy Alliance and of crushing the spirit of 
liberty in Germany, which, having first been The 
roused by the Napoleonic conquest, had after- Congress 
wards destroyed the man who gave it life ! o f Aachen. 
France could not be said to be at peace under the government 
of Louis XVIII., who wished above everything else to retain 
the throne of France until he died, and was dis- „ 
tracted by the ultra Royalists, Napoleonists, and 
Republicans, with whom he endeavoured to temporise. On 
February 15, 1820, the duke of Berry was murdered by Louvel, 
which allowed the reactionary party under the Comte d'Artois 
to dismiss Decazes and to establish Villele in his place, so that 
the spirit of liberty was subdued in France for ten years. It 
was otherwise in Spain, Portugal, and Naples. 
Ferdinand VII., on returning to Spain, abolished p? 3 ^ *i 
the constitution, which he had solemnly promised 
to observe, and revived absolutism, together with the Inquisition 
and the Jesuits. An army which had been formed for the pur- 
pose of reducing to obedience the rebellious colonies in South 
America was vised by the liberal leaders, Riego and Quiroga, to 
compel the king to re-establish the constitution and to summon 
the Cortes. In Portugal a military insurrection in Oporto 
compelled John VI. to return from Brazil to the mother country, 
and to take the oath to a constitution, and when, during his 
absence, Brazil demanded similar liberties, which were refused, 
it declared itself independent and gave the government to 
John's eldest son, Pedro, with the title of emperor. In Naples, 
the Carbonari, or " charcoal-burners," the revolu- 
tionary society of which Byron had been a " 

member, stimulated by the events in the Spanish peninsula, 
raised their banner, with the cry, " God, the king, and the con- 
stitution," and, led by Pepe and Carascosa, forced King Ferdinand 
to swear to a constitution. Without the slightest intention of 
keeping it, he raised his eyes to the crucifix and added to the 
prescribed oath the solemn words, " Omnipotent God, Whose 
eyes read the hearts of men and the future, if I take this oath 
in bad faith, or if I violate it, in that moment let the lightnings 
of Thy vengeance fall upon my head ! " A similar rising took 
place in Piedmont, where the hopes of the insurgents were fixed 
upon Charles Albert, head of the younger line of Carignan, and 
where Victor Emmanuel was compelled to accept the Spanish 
constitution of 1812, a very worthless form of monarchy. The 

2 Y 



706 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1815 to 

temporal powers of Europe summoned a congress, which met 

first at Troppau and then at Laibach, and lastly at Verona 

Congress of m 1822. That of Laibach sent an Austrian army 

Troppau- into Sardinia and Naples to restore order, and that 

Laibach. f Verona despatched a French force into Italy 

under the duke of Angouleme, to destroy the constitution 

established by Quiroga and Mina, and, after the taking of Cadiz, 

to bring back the old order of things. Dom Pedro II. received 

the crown of Brazil by the abdication of his father in 1829, but 

had to fight for the throne of Portugal with his fanatical 

brother, Dom Miguel, until he obtained it for his daughter, 

Maria da Gloria, and accepted the constitution of 1821. 

In Russia, Alexander I. abolished serfdom in the Baltic 
provinces and granted a constitution to his Baltic provinces ; 
„ . but on his death in 1825 his brother Nicholas 

succeeded, after a revolutionary attempt to place 
his brother Constantine on the throne, and established a 
form of absolute monarchy. He, however, governed well, and, 
in a war with Persia, conquered Eriwan and Tauris, and 
established freedom of navigation in the Caspian Sea. The 
six years from 1821 to 1827 witnessed the great 
R G lutii work- of the emancipation of Greece from the 
tyranny of Turkey ; the throne was given to Prince 
Otto of Bavaria. The movement began in the Danubian princi- 
palities under Alexander Ypsilanti, but was put down by the 
Turks because the Russians would give no assistance. At the 
same time, a rising took place in the Morea, which was supported 
by Demetrius Ypsilanti, Mavrocordato, Kolokotrones, Odysseus, 
and others, and by the capture of Tripolitza enabled a national 
congress to be held at Epidaurus in 1822, which led to the 
drawing up of a free constitution. The Hellenic cause excited 
great enthusiasm in many parts of Europe, and money was 
sent to support it. Byron, the poet, welcomed it with ardour, 
and gave his fortune and life for it, dying of fever at 
Missolonghi in 1824. Sultan Mahmoud II. entrusted the sup- 
pression of the rebellion to the viceroy of Egypt, who sent 
his son Ibrahim for the purpose. Landing in the Morea in 
1825, Ibrahim captured Missolonghi, and used such cruelty 
in suppressing the insurrection that, under the guidance of 
Canning, England, Russia, and Prance were compelled to 
interfere. -This led to the battle of Navarino on October 20, 

1827, in which the Turkish fleet was entirely destroyed. In 

1828, Ibrahim was compelled to return to Egypt, and, in the 



a.d. 1830] REACTION IN EUROPE 7°7 

conference of London, Greece was declared an independent 
kingdom, with a frontier extending from the gnlf of Arta to 
that of Yolo. That it did not receive a large ex- i^e 
tension, together with the island of Crete, was due Kingdom 
to the narrow-minded obstinacy of Wellington, of Greece, 
who, detesting all rebels, had become prime minister in 1828, 
Canning having died on August 8, 1827, and Coderich, under 
whose ministry Navarino was fought, having held only a 
transient authority. 

At this time also, a war broke out between Russia and 
Sultan Mahmoud II. of Turkey, a powerful sovereign, who had 
murdered the Janissaries and taken steps to place his army 
on a European footing and to reform his empire. This was 
marked by the conquest of Braila and Varna in Europe, and 
by that of Erzeroum in Asia, and was concluded by the treaty 
of Adrianople in 1829, which placed Turkey in 
the power of Russia. The Danubian principalities Adrianaole 
of Moldavia and Wallachia obtained a position 
which paved the way for their independence at a later date, 
and the passage of merchant ships through the Bosphorus and 
Dardanelles was secured for the commerce of Europe. Not 
long afterwards, the Porte was further weakened by the action 
of Mahomet Ali, who had made himself sovereign of Egypt 
by the destruction of the Mamelukes in 1811. His son, 
Ibrahim, became master of Syria after the battle 
of Konieh, and threatened Constantinople, but ^f^ 
the powers of Europe intervened. In 1833, the 
Sultan gave him possession of Syria, which he was compelled 
to surrender in 1840 by the action of France, England, and 
Austria, although it would have been a benefit to civilisation 
if he had retained it. By the hattisherif , or decree, of February 
13, 1841, Egypt was placed under a viceroy, called the Khedive, 
who acknowledged the suzerainty of the Porte, but held heredi- 
tary and almost independent authority. 

We now come to the French Revolution of Italy 1830. The 

wise and temperate Louis XVIII. was succeeded in 1824 by his 

fanatical brother Charles X., a bigot and an _ 

i • Charles X 

autocrat, who had learned nothing and forgotten 

nothing from the overthrow of that ancien regime from which he 
sprang. He led a Royalist reaction, — establishing a censorship 
of the press, dissolving the National Guard, and recalling the 
Jesuits, — and he made a fatal error by entrusting the govern- 
ment to Polignac, who was even more bigoted than himself. 



708 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1815-1830 

The conqxiest of Algiers in 1830, the first notable success which 
France had gained since the wars of Napoleon, could not save 
his government from defeat. The crisis came from the issue 
of the ordinances for the suppression of the press, the dissolu- 
tion of the Chamber, and the alteration of the franchise, which 
he refused to recall. The aged Lafayette revived the National 
Tbg Guard, and three days' fighting from July 27 to 

Revolution 29 made Charles resign his crown to the duke 
of 1830. of Bordeaux, son of the duke of Berry. He 

abdicated on August 2, 1830, went to England for a time, and 
died at Gorz in 1836. After his departure, a provisional 
government was formed, consisting of Lafitte, Casimir Perier, 
Odilon Barrot, and others, and eventually Louis Philippe, son 
of the duke of Orleans who had been guillotined in the Revolu- 
tion, was made " King of the French." Thus the direct 
Bourbon line was replaced by a cadet branch descended from a 
brother of Louis XIV. 

The success of the revolution in France produced a revolu- 
tion in Belgium with the object of establishing an independent 
■jijjg kingdom and putting an end to the union with 

Kingdom of Holland, which never ought to have been made. 
Belgium. A conference was held in London to prevent 
French intervention, and a neutral kingdom of Belgium was 
formed, of which Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the widowed 
consort of Princess Charlotte, was made king. William of 
Holland resisted till in 1832 the French captured the citadel of 
Antwerp, and even then he delayed for six years his recognition 
of the new kingdom, A rising also took place in 
Poland ^ Warsaw in November 1830, which drove out the 
viceroy, General Grand Duke Constantine ; the 
leaders declared Poland an independent state, supported by 
France. A provisional government was at first established under 
Czartoryski, but Chlopicki was soon made dictator, with com- 
mand of the Polish army. He summoned a Diet, which placed 
Radziwill at the head of the government, and threatened to 
dethrone the house of Romanow. But the assistance expected 
from France did not arrive, and the fatal battle of Ostrolenka 
put an end to the aspirations of Poland. Many thousands of 
Poles were sent to Siberia, and in 1832 Poland was incorporated 
in the Russian empire with certain conditions of self-govern- 
ment, and Paskiewich was made viceroy. 

Italy was also affected by the movement of unrest. A rising 
took place at Modena in February 1830, and Ciro Menotti fell 



a.p. 1815-18371 ENGLAND 7°9 

a victim to the treachery of the duke, who sent a message to the 
neighbouring town of Reggio : " A terrible conspiracy has broken 
out ; the conspirators are in my hands ; send me the hangman ! " 

ENGLAND, A.D. 1815-1837. 

In England we find the same tendency towards democratic 
advance, but what other nations acquired by revolution we 
reached by peaceful reform. Like the rest of 
Europe, England suffered from the reaction follow- England "* 
ing Napoleon's fall, and the five years after 1815 
are an epoch of darkness and misery. Great distress was caused 
by the passing of a corn law in 1815, which forbade the impor- 
tation of foreign corn, if the price of corn was under eighty 
shillings a quarter, and the following year Cobbett came forward 
as a potent agitator, urging radical opinions in his paper called 
the Political Register, which had an enormous sale. Popular 
discontent was shown in 1816 by riots in Spa Fields ; by the 
throwing of stones at the Regent when he went to open Parlia- 
ment, and next year by the march from Manchester to London 
of the Blanketeers, a number of working men and women, 
each carrying a blanket ; and by a riot in Derbyshire in June. 
The government met these movements by suspending the 
Habeas Corpus Act, and by issuing a circular to the lords- 
lieutenant of counties, urging that persons who published 
seditious libels should be arrested. However, in 1818, the 
Habeas Corpus Act was restored, and it has never since been 
suspended in England. In 1819 matters became worse by the dis- 
turbance at Manchester, sometimes called in derision the Peter- 
loo Massacre, as being the Waterloo of the Tories. A meeting 
in favour of reform, held in St. Peter's Fields, Manchester, was 
attacked by the Yeomanry with the purpose of arresting one 
of the speakers, one man being killed and some forty injured. 
In consequence of this, six repressive acts were 
passed which have remained notorious in English r~f 
history, for the following purposes — to prevent 
delay in the administration of justice in case of misdemeanour ; 
to check military training and the use of arms ; to punish 
blasphemous and seditious libels — the movement in favour of 
independent religious thought being considered as dangerous 
as political propaganda and to be closely connected with it ; 
to authorise the seizure of arms ; to check the publication of 
pamphlets ; and to prevent seditious meetings. Lord John 



710 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1815 to 

Russell attempted to remedy the real cause of the discontent 
by a motion for parliamentary reform, but it was rejected, to 
be brought forward with greater success at a more favourable 
time. Those who were opposed to repressive measures and 
were in favour of reform now began to bear the name of Radi- 
cals, as desiring changes in the government both 
i; *T. . in root and branch. In 1820 George III. came 

to the conclusion of his long reign, having for 
many years past been blind and insane, and his place was 
taken by George IV., probably the worst monarch who ever 
occupied the throne. 

In this year, when European sovereigns were meeting at 
Troppau, the discontent in England was shown by a conspiracy 
The Cato ^o murder the ministers, called the Cato Street 
Street Conspiracy, because the conspirators used to meet 

Conspiracy. i n a loft in Cato Street. Their den was stormed by 
the police, some were killed, and the leader — Thistlewood — was 
executed. Matters were made worse by the attempted divorce 
of the queen, who was detested by her husband, George IV. 
A " bill of pains and penalties " was introduced into the Upper 
House with the purpose of dissolving her marriage, but as it 
passed through its various stages the majorities in its favour 
dwindled, and it was eventually given up amid popular rejoicings. 
In 1821 a Catholic Relief Bill, introduced to remove another 
grievance by the repeal of unjust laws against Catholics, was 
rejected, and in the following session a second motion of 
Russell's in favour of reform met with a similar fate. In this 
year, however, Castlereagh, the strongest supporter of Met- 
ternich's policy, died by his own hand, and the prospects of 
liberalism brightened. In 1822, which was the year of the 
Congress of Verona, Canning returned to power as foreign 
secretary. To some degree, he was a liberal in foreign politics, 
and a bitter enemy of the Holy Alliance. He prevented 
England from joining in the intervention in Spain which was 
undertaken by France. In 1824, he recognised the independence 
of certain South American colonies, who had revolted against 
Spain, and, as he said, " called a new world into existence to 
redress the balance of the old." 

In 1827, Liverpool was obliged to resign his office from 
ill health, and Canning, after vain opposition from the king, 
took his place, but he could not carry his colleagues with him 
in the liberalism of his foreign policy and his support of 
Catholic Emancipation and some relaxation of the Corn Laws 



a.d. 1837] ENGLAND 711 

in favour of Free Trade. Therefore seven of the ministers re- 
fused to take office under him, but he was supported by Lynd- 
hurst as lord chancellor, by Palmerston, Goderich, 
.Harrowby,and others. Unfortunately he died after Ministerial 
only a few months in office, on August 8. His 
place was at first taken by Goderich, but he was not up to the 
work, and, in 1828, the duke of Wellington became premier, 
with Robert Peel as home secretary and leader of the House 
of Commons, Lyndhurst, Huskisson, and Palmerston remain- 
ing in office. By the wise statesmanship of Peel, the Test and 
Corporation Acts were repealed, and the Catholic Catholic 
Emancipation Act was passed in 1829. It ad- Emancipa- 
mitted Catholics to Parliament and to all civil and tion. 
political offices with the exception of regent, lord chancellor, 
and lord-lieutenant of Ireland. An agitation began for the 
repeal of the union between Great Britain and Ireland, but 
in 1830 George IV. died, and was succeeded by his brother, the 
duke of Clarence, as William IV. 

The year 1830 witnessed a liberal ministry in England, 
pledged to the cause of Parliamentary Reform. The Cabinet 
was a remarkable one, Lord Grey being prime 
minister, Althorp chancellor of the exchequer r!?. r . ** re y s 
and leader of the Commons, Melbourne home 
secretary, Palmerston foreign secretary, and Lord Brougham 
lord chancellor. Russell was also a minister, but did not 
belong to the cabinet. The first two years of the ministry 
were spent in passing a measure of parliamentary reform. 
The first Reform Bill was brought in by Russell, and passed 
the House of Commons by a majority of one. This was 
not enough, so Parliament was dissolved and a larger liberal 
majority returned. In October a second Reform Bill was 
passed by the Commons, but was rejected by the 
Lords ; and in December a third Reform Bill was ™* ^[is* 
read for the first time and passed the Commons 
on March 23, 1832. It was well known that the bill would be 
rejected by the Lords, and the only way to prevent this was to 
create a sufficient number of peers to pass it. This the king 
refused to do, and the ministers resigned. After an attempt to 
form a ministry under Wellington, Grey returned to office, and 
at last the Lords were persuaded to bow to the will of the 
country. Under this act, 56 boroughs were disfranchised 
altogether, 30 more returned one member instead of two, 43 
new boroughs were created, half of which returned one member 



712 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1815-1837 

and the rest two members each. The county members were 
increased from 94 to 159, votes were given in towns to all 
holders of premises of the value of <£10 a year, and the county 
franchise was largely extended. It was undoubtedly a revolu- 
tion, as it gave power to the middle classes and took it away 
from the peers. 

The reform of the constitution led to the passing of a number 
of measures of a liberal character, which it had been impossible to 
get through the Tory house. The next two years 
Legislation saw ^ ie taking of oaths rendered optional by the 
passing of an Affirmation Act, — the number of 
Irish bishoprics reduced, — slavery abolished in the colonies from 
August 1, 1834, a compensation of twenty millions being given 
to the slave- owners, — the work of women and children in factories 
restricted by a Factory Act, — a grant given to popular edu- 
cation, — the treatment of the indigent poor improved by the 
abolition of the Settlement Acts and the restriction of out- 
door relief, — and a movement started for the disestablishment 
of the Irish Church. The ministry resigned in 1834, being 
divided in opinion as to a Coercion Act for Ireland. Mel- 
bourne became prime minister, but he was dismissed by the 
king and was succeeded by Sir Robert Peel, the duke of 
Wellington being foreign minister and the youthful Gladstone 
under-secretary for the colonies. Parliament was now dis- 
solved, but Peel, not securing a majority in the Commons, was 
compelled to retire, his place being taken by Melbourne, who 
was supported by Russell and Palmerston. This second ministry 
of Melbourne reformed the municipalities as Parliament had 
been reformed three years before. All boroughs were to be 
The governed by town councils, elected by all who 

Municipal paid the poor and borough rates, and who had re- 
Reform Act. sided in the borough for three years. Also the 
debates of the House of Commons were made more popular by 
the publication of the division lists, issued under the authority 
of the house. These measures mark the first two years of 
Melbourne's ministry. In the third year, 1837, William IV. 
died, and was succeeded by his niece, Queen Victoria, whose 
long reign formed one of the most brilliant periods in English 
history. 

EUROPE, A.D. 1830-1848. 

Meanwhile Italy dragged out a troubled existence under 
Austrian misrule, until the election to the papal chair, in June 



a.d. 1830-1848] EUROPE 713 

1848, of Cardinal Mastai Ferretti, henceforth called Pius IX., 
a vigorous, upright man, with a zeal for liberal reform. Austria, 
alarmed at this, used every means to interfere with his policy, 
and at last took possession of Ferrara in the Papal 
States, which led to risings in many parts of Italy. 
On March 23, Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, issued a pro- 
clamation in favour of Italian unity ; and marched into Lombardy 
to assist in the expulsion of the Austrians, who, Charles 
however, gradually overcame all opposition and Albert and 
forced an armistice upon him. France and Eng- Italian 
land made some attempt at mediation, but on Unity. 
March 20, 1849, Charles Albert terminated the armistice as the 
only means of saving his kingdom. By the 24th, however, the 
war was at an end, and Charles Albert abdicated in favour 
of his son, Victor Emmanuel, who purchased peace by the pay- 
ment of 75,000,000 lire. Meanwhile, Radetsky, the Austrian 
general, was blockading Venice, which in August 1849 sur- 
rendered, the whole of northern Italy falling into the hands of 
the emperor. 

In the Papal States, Pius IX. had done his best for the 
political regeneration of Italy, but was met by demands for a 
constitution, which he strove to quell by the 
appointment as prime minister of Rossi, a staunch » e e U hi> &n 
opponent of democracy. Rossi, however, was 
assassinated on November 15, 1848, and eight days later the 
pope fled from Rome and took up his abode at Gaeta. On 
February 9, 1849, a National Assembly declared the pope's 
power at an end, and proclaimed once more a Roman republic. 
Pius waited in vain for his people to reinstate him in his 
temporal authority, and was at length compelled to call in 
the assistance of the Roman Catholic powers of Europe. A 
French army under Oudinot was sent to Italy, to crush the 
Roman republic, and, after a siege, Rome surrendered on June 
30, 1849. Pius IX. returned to the capital a changed man, no 
longer zealous for reform, but intent upon the preservation of 
his sovereignty. 

We must now pass to Switzerland, where, in January 1834, 
certain cantons drew up a document called the " Articles of 
Baden," with the object of defending the state 
against the encroachments of the church. The ill of^Baden 0168 
feeling engendered by this led to a civil war, 
which, though apparently of religious origin, was really the 
result of the revolutionary wave then passing over Europe. On 



714 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1830 to 

December 11, 1845, the seven Catholic cantons banded themselves 
into a league known as the Sonderbund, with Siegwan-Miiller 
at its head. Europe in the main took the side of the league 
as an outwork against revolution, but, war becoming inevi- 
table, in October 1847, General Dufour took the 
« j b d fi^d against the Sonderbund, and, in twenty- 
five days, crushed its resistance. These events 
made a change in the Swiss constitution imperative. In a 
federal constitution, the main point is to determine which 
New Swiss powers are to be given to the central authority, 
Constitu- and which are to be left to the separate states. The 
tion. federal government now received control of the 

army ; equality before the law, freedom of the press, and reli- 
gious liberty were recognised as the fundamental principles of 
a democratic constitution. The legislature consisted of two 
houses — the Senate, to which each canton sent two members, 
and the Lower House, consisting of members elected in propor- 
tion to the population of the cantons. The executive was a 
council of seven, one of whom was chosen president for a 
period of three years. The constitution has continued un- 
changed, but for revisions in 1867 and 1874, to the present day, 
and is the model of a democratic government, the most success- 
ful the world has seen. 

In France Louis Philippe had been selected to fill the 

throne, by the intrumentality of Lafayette, who, doubting the 

capacity of France to support a republic, preferred 

PhT S to §* ve ^ er a " throne surrounded by republican 

institutions." For a time, Louis, with the help 

of an immense revenue, which he used freely for the purposes 

of political corruption, consolidated his government and 

obtained a reputation for firmness and political wisdom. But 

amid all this, the lower classes, disappointed as to the results of 

the Revolution of July, grew more and more dissatisfied, and 

this discontent led eventually to the Revolution of 1848, and 

the establishment of the Second Republic. The immediate cause 

Thg of the outbreak was an attempt on the part of the 

Revolution government to put a stop to the political reform 

of 1848. banquets which were becoming common in the 

country. On February 22, 1848, a large concourse of people 

met for the purpose of attending one of these banquets, but 

was dispersed without loss of life. In the evening, however, 

disturbances took place, and, on the following day, skirmishes 

occurred, and the colonel of the National Guard was sent to 



a.d. 1848] EUROPE 715 

inform the king of their desire for reform. Louis Philippe 
acceded immediately to their requests, dismissed Guizot, and 
entrusted the formation of the new ministry to Mole. The 
disturbances, however, continued, and in the evening the mobs 
were fired upon. Then their desire for revenge was aroused, 
and the cry, " Down with Louis Philippe ! Down with the 
Bourbons ! " was heard in the streets. Mole being unable 
to form a ministry, the task was entrusted to Thiers, who 
issued a proclamation ordering the troops to retire to their 
quarters. This was a virtual surrender, and the mob took 
advantage of it to march to the palace and demand the 
abdication of the king. During the day, Louis signed an 
abdication in favour of his son, the Count of Paris, and, with 
the queen, fled first to Saint Cloud, and thence to England, 
the palace, meanwhile, being sacked by the populace. 

As soon as the abdication had been signed, the Chamber 
of Deputies assembled, and a provisional government was 
formed and adopted by the Parisians, the French 
Republic being proclaimed throughout the king- RercuMic 11 
clom. The leading member of the government 
was Lamartine, who succeeded in calming the passions of the 
people and re-establishing tranquillity by vigorous repressive 
measures. On the 26th, the public departments resumed 
their duties, and the people of France, with extraordinary 
unanimity, accepted the republic. The Revolution of February 
was accomplished by the union of the Moderates and the 
Republicans ; but, as soon as their object was obtained, dissen- 
sions broke out anew between them, and the Republicans, unwil- 
ling that the Moderates should have control of the provisional 
government, determined upon their overthrow. As yet, however, 
the power was in the hands of the Moderates, who could rely 
upon the support of the National Guard, and in the ballot in 
May for an exacutive committee for the government not one 
of the ultra-Republicans secured a place. On May 15, the 
populace, led by Barbes, gained a temporary command of the 
National Assembly, but was dispersed by the National Guard, 
the provisional government being reinstated. 

In view of the possibility of another demonstration, the 
command of the troops in Paris was given to the minister 
of war, General Cavaignac. In June, the government deter- 
mined to send out of Paris 12,000 workmen, who were unpro- 
fitably employed in the government workshops, in order to 
lighten the burden upon the treasury. This was the signal 



716 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1830 to 

for fresh disturbances, which began on June 22. On the 24th, 
Cavaignac declared Paris in a state of siege, and] the fighting 
continued till the 26th, victory remaining with the government. 
The success of General Cavaignac led to his appointment to the 
control of the executive of the nation, a power which he used 
with moderation. The leaders of the insurrection fled the 
country, and those who were captured were treated with 
mildness. The Assembly meanwhile proceeded with the forma- 
tion of the constitution, which was accepted on November 4, 
1848. The Republican form of government was adopted, with 
a president at its head, to be elected every four years. Its 
principles were liberty, equality, and fraternity ; its bases, 
family, labour, property, and order. 

The Revolution in France led to risings in the German 
states, where the various rulers were petitioned for a larger 
Germany share in legislation and similar privileges, the 
and king of Prussia placing himself at the head of 

Austria the reform movement. In Austria, also, dis- 

in 1848. turbances took place, which brought about the 

fall of Metternich, one of the worst ministers who ever had 
a share in the government of Europe. During April and May 
1848, Vienna was in the hands of the mob, and the emperor 
took refuge at Innsbruck. Returning in August, he was 
unable to regain the command of the city. Meanwhile, the 
Slavs had demanded a constitution from the emperor. This 
being refused, a congress was held in Prague, where, the 
people becoming excited by the presence of troops in the city, 
a rising occurred, which ended in the breaking up of the Slavic 
congress, after great slaughter. A second revolution took place 
in Vienna, where the people rose to protest against the 
sending of troops against the Hungarians, who were striving 
to preserve their integrity against Austrian encroachments. 
The insurgents triumphed, and the emperor fled to Olmiitz. He 
was able, however, to concentrate an overwhelming force before 
Vienna, and the rebellion was crushed with great severity. The 
Hungarians had, meanwhile, advanced into Austrian territory, 
but, in view of the repression of the revolt in Vienna, were com- 
pelled to recross the frontiers. These events were favourable 
to peace in Germany, where the king of Prussia, calling in the 
army to his aid, dissolved the Assembly which he had summoned 
to construct a constitution, ignored his promises, and pursued his 
way as before, carrying with him the other German sovereigns. 
The absorption of Schleswig-Holstein by Denmark, which occurred 



a.d 1848] EUROPE 717 

simultaneously, was a fruitful cause of future trouble, and ended 
finally in the establishment of the German empire. 

The only effect which these revolutionary movements in the 
rest of Europe had upon England was shown in the publica- 
tion of the People's Charter. Regarded from a i^e 
modern point of view, this charter is not very People's 
formidable. The points demanded were six — Charter. 
Universal suffrage, vote by ballot, annual parliaments, aboli- 
tion of property qualification for members, payment of members, 
and division of the country into equal electoral districts. 
Riots took place in various parts of the country, the worst 
being at Newport, where the mob was fired upon by the troops, 
but no great excitement was caused by the movement, and it 
gradually died out, leaving England practically unaffected by 
the revolutionary fever which was ravaging the rest of Europe. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE, A.D. 1851-52— THE HUNGARIAN 
REBELLION, A.D. 1848-49— THE CRIMEAN WAR, 1852-56— THE 
INDIAN MUTINY, 1857-58— ITALY, 1849-59. 

After the acceptance of the republican settlement in France in 
1848, it became necessary, in accordance with the constitution, to 
Louis elect a president to hold the chief power for four 

Napoleon years. There were six candidates for the office — 
President. Lamartine, Ledru Rollin, Raspail, Ohangarnier, 
Cavaignac, and Louis Napoleon, the son of Louis Bonaparte, 
Napoleon's brother. It soon became evident, however, that 
the choice would lie between Cavaignac and Louis Napoleon, 
the chief claim of the latter being his relationship to the great 
emperor. The result of the election was a surprise, three quar- 
ter's of the votes polled throughout the country being for Louis 
Napoleon. He was inaugurated president on December 20, 1848, 
swearing to " remain faithfnl to the democratic constitution." 

Born in 1808, he had been always regarded as the repre- 
sentative of the Napoleon dynasty, and had made two attempts 
to stir np a revolution against Louis Philippe. After his 
second attempt, he was captured and imprisoned for five years, 
making his escape in 1846. After the Revolution of 1848, he 
was elected to the Assembly, and later, as has been seen, to the 
supreme magistracy. His first action was to make a declara- 
tion asserting that the principles of his government were 
T , strictly democratic and republican. The Assembly 

Assembly wa s composed of various more or less conflicting 
and the parties — the Legitimists, who supported the Bour- 

President. bons ; the Orleanists, in favour of the descendants 
of Louis Philippe ; the Bonapartists, who were anxious for the 
re-establishment of the empire in the person of Napoleon ; and 
the Republicans. From the first, the Assembly and the President 
were in opposition, the one intriguing against the head of the 
republic, the other furthering his ambitious designs by every 
means in his power. The policy pursued was strictly conservative : 
education was placed in the hands of the clergy, the liberty of the 

7i8 



a. d. 1851-1852] SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE 719 

press was restricted, and an army was sent to crush the newly 
created republic of Rome. 

The constitution had provided for its revision by the votes 
of three- fourths of the Assembly, and declared the President 
ineligible for re-election. In 1851, however, a motion for its 
revision was easily defeated, and the Assembly, fearing that the 
President would seek re-election in violation of the constitution, 
proposed a bill for his impeachment if he made any such attempt. 
Matters were coming to a crisis, and anarchy seemed probable, 
when Louis Napoleon, by a coup d'etat, crushing the consti- 
tution and the opposition of the Assembly, ob- 
tainecl the imperial power at which he aimed. On ,,,, . p 
December 1, a ball was given by the President, at 
which all the fashion and beauty of Paris were present, but 
on the following morning the city was found to be full of 
troops, and all the surrounding country occupied by them, 
while a presidential decree, which was found posted on every 
wall, announced the dissolution of the Assembly, the restora- 
tion of universal suffrage, and the establishment of martial 
law in the city. The chiefs of the Assembly had been seized 
and thrown into prison, and no one was left with sufficient 
authority to take the lead of the people. The coup d'etat was 
successful, and Louis Napoleon was dictator of France. Three 
hundred members of the Assembly, unable to enter their hall, 
met in another part of the city, and declared the President 
guilty of treason ; but before they could disperse they were 
surrounded by troops and escorted to prison. All newspapers 
except the government organs were suppressed, and notices of 
an election to decide whether to grant Louis Napoleon power 
for ten years, with the authority to reform the constitution, 
were issued, fixing the voting to take place between the 14th 
and 22nd of December. On the 4th, an insurrection occurred, 
but was ruthlessly suppressed, about 1000 of the people being 
killed in Paris alone. Within three days, order was restored 
throughout the country. 

The army voted first, and decided almost unanimously in 
favour of Louis Napoleon, and this example was followed by 
the nation, which thereby showed its desire for 
the restoration of the empire. On January 1 , ", Second 
1852, the result of the election was celebrated 
in Paris, and on the 14th the new constitution was decreed. 
It entrusted the government to Louis Napoleon for ten years, 
made him commander-in-chief of both army and navy, and 



720 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1848 to 

gave him power over peace and war, as well as the control of 
legislation. He lacked only the name of emperor, and this he 
assumed, quietly and without protest, within a year of his 
re-election. The foundation of the empire, which was recognised 
and welcomed by all the European nations with the exception 
of Russia, seemed to promise a general peace ; but, in reality, it 
brought to a crisis the various points of discord which were hover- 
ing over Europe, and led, indirectly, to the war in the Crimea. 

THE HUNGARIAN REBELLION, A.D. 1848-49. 

But it is necessary, first, to describe the Hungarian rebellion, 
which ended so disastrously for that country, placing it more 
firmly than ever under the sway of Austria, 
Revo ution f rom w hich it has never been able to free itself. 
The immediate cause of the second revolution in 
Vienna had been the order to some Austrian troops to march 
against the Croats, who had revolted from Hungary. This war 
soon became one between Hungary and Austria. Hungary had, 
up to now, enjoyed a certain measure of independence, although 
her affairs were managed by a bureau in Vienna, and, after 
the first Revolution in 1848, when the emperor had conceded 
to the people of his hereditary states the rights demanded by 
them, a deputation of the Hungarians had waited upon him, 
asking for their kingdom similar liberties. The emperor 
gave his assent on April 11, and the news was received with 
great joy by the Hungarian nation. But, the people being 
unused to such liberty, the government was not allowed to 
exercise its functions, and a state of anarchy ensued. Worse 
than all, opposition to Hungary appeared within her own pro- 
vinces, and was secretly encouraged by Austria. 
Hungarians rj^-g pp OS jfcion at length showing itself in open 
revolt, war between Hungary and her vassals 
became inevitable, and the actual beginning of the struggle 
was the bombardment by Hungarian troops, on June 12, 
1848, of Carlowitz, the centre of the Serbs of Slavonia. 
The discontented Slavs rose in support of their compatriots, 
and finally Austria, throwing off the mask, declared her in- 
tention to revoke the concessions recently granted, and so aid 
the insurgents openly. 

The Hungarian Diet, by strenuous efforts, raised the army 
to 200,000 men, who, stirred by the eloquence of Kossuth, 
succeeded in repulsing Jellachich, the Ban or governor of 
Croatia, who had advanced against Pesth, the capital of the 



a.d. 1849] THE HUNGARIAN REBELLION 721 

kingdom. Meanwhile, the Emperor Ferdinand had abdicated 
in favour of his nephew, Francis Joseph. Not having taken 
the oath in the Hungarian capital to preserve the constitution, 
Francis Joseph was declared by the Diet to be incapable of 
ruling Hungary, but this decision was not accepted by the 
nation, which was averse to a conflict. The Austrian Parlia- 
ment, however, desiring to recall the concessions which had 
been granted by the emperor, resolved upon the unconditional 
surrender of the Hungarians. The prospect of war aroused the 
nation to rally round the patriot Kossuth, but, when every 
possible effort had been made, the Hungarian army, which 
took the field in December 1848, amounted to only 65,000 men. 

Windischgratz, the Austrian general, invaded Hungary from 
nine points, and, meeting with little resistance from Gorgey, 
the commander of the Hungarian forces, entered 
Pesth on January 6, 1849. The Hungarian govern- Vagary 
ment retired to Debreczen, while the army slowly 
concentrated in the valley of the Theiss. After various mis- 
fortunes, Bern, who commanded the Hungarians and their allies 
in Transylvania, was able to defeat the Austrians, who had 
received aid from Russia, entered Cronstadt without opposition, 
and, in a few weeks, was in command of the whole of Transyl- 
vania. In the meantime, in the valley of the Theiss, important 
events had been taking place, which at last resulted in the 
Austrians being driven for the time out of Hungary ; and had 
Gorgey, who had produced this result, been active in following 
up his advantage, he might have gained possession of Vienna 
itself. He lingered, however, and so allowed the Austrians to 
provide for its defence. On April 15, 1849, the independence 
of Hungary was declared, and the government was placed in the 
hands of Louis Kossuth, who had little less than regal powers. 

Preparations for the renewed invasion of Hungary were 
rapidly carried on, and by June 400,000 men, of whom 160,000 
were Russians, were assembled on the Hungarian interven- 
frontiers, under Haynau. To meet this force, tion of 
the Hungarians had raised 140,000 men, who Russia, 
were distributed throughout the country. The plans of the 
Austrians and Eussians were entirely successful, and Haynau's 
severity earned him the title of " Hungary's Hangman." The 
struggle continued with varying fortune, until, at length, Kossuth, 
considering Gorgey the only man capable of saving Hungary, 
conferred upon him dictatorial powers, which, three days later, 
he betrayed, surrendering to the Russian general Rxidiger 

2 z 



722 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1852 to 

on August 13. This was the end of the war in Hungary. 
Kossuth fled to Turkey, and later to America, where he was 
kindly received, and his noble efforts on behalf of his country 
properly appreciated. The officers and soldiers of the Hungarian 
army were treated with revolting cruelty, and the country, 
which had preserved its national existence for a thousand 
years, was finally merged into the Austrian empire, more by the 
treachery of its own sons than by the forces brought against it. 

THE EASTEEN QUESTION AND THE CRIMEAN WAR, 
A.D. 1852-56. 

While these events had been happening in Hungary, Louis 
Napoleon had been consolidating his power. After the security 
Aims of °f n ^ s own position, the object nearest to his heart 

Louis was the liberation of Italy from the Austrian 

Napoleon. government. He was of Italian origin ; in his 
youth he had been a member of the Carbonari ; and he 
longed to see the rule of the double-eagle removed from the 
country with which he had so many ties. In order to do this, 
it was necessary that he should preclude the possibility of 
Austria's receiving assistance from Russia, and it therefore 
became imperative to cripple Russia before any decisive action 
could be taken. In furtherance of this project, he did his 
best to stir up war with that country, and the struggle in 
the Crimea must therefore be laid at the door of Napoleon, 
the British having little or no interest in it. The excuse for 
a quarrel, which he needed, was found in the revival of the 
Eastern question concerning the maintenance of the Turkish 
power. This was due to the dissensions between the Latin and 
The Holy Greek Christians for the control of the Holy 
Places of Places in Palestine. The cause of the Greeks 
Palestine. having been espoused by the Tsar, Napoleon 
naturally came forward as the champion of the Latins, glad of 
so good an opportunity of bringing about a quarrel with Russia. 
The Sultan tried in vain to satisfy the rival claimants, where- 
upon the Tsar proposed to Great Britain that the Turkish 
provinces in Europe should be made independent under Russian 
influence, and Great Britain should occupy Crete and Egypt. 
This she refused to do, whereupon the Tsar prepared for war, 
having been denied the protectorate of the Greek Christians in 
Turkey. That country applied to the western powers for help. 
Great Britain and France sent a joint fleet to the Dardanelles, 



a.d.1856] EASTERN QUESTION: CRIMEAN WAR 723 

while the Tsar, to enforce his demand, occupied the Danubian 
principalities. As a last resort before war, the great powers 
held a congress at Vienna, and proposals for peace were sent 
to the contending parties. These were accepted by Russia, 
and would have been accepted also by the Turks but for the 
advice of the English ambassador, Sir Stratford Canning. War 
was, therefore, declared between Russia and Turkey, and, upon 
the destruction of the Turkish fleet, in November 1853, Great 
Britain came to the assistance of the Porte, an alliance with 
France to support her in the enterprise being signed in 
March 1854. 

In April 1854, about 20,000 English troops under Lord 
Raglan, together with 40,000 French under St. Arnaud, landed 
at Gallipoli in the Dardanelles, and marched to i^e 
Varna, where plans for the campaign were con- Crimean 
certed. It was decided to attack Sebastopol, and War - 
for this purpose a move was made to the Crimea. The whole 
army consisted of about 57,000 men, of whom 7000 were Turks. 
The advance began on September 19, and, on the 20th, a battle 
was fought in the valley of the Alma. The Russians, about 
40,000 strong, held the heights beyond the river. The British 
advanced up the river, led by the Guards and the Highlanders, 
and the Russians began to give way, but the pursuit was not 
followed up, as Canrobert, in command of the French, refused 
to allow his men to march without their knapsacks. In the 
battle the British lost 2000, the French a much smaller number, 
while the Russian losses amounted to nearly 6000 men. Had 
the allies advanced at once, as the British generals desired, 
they might have entered Sebastopol without opposition, but 
they wasted two days on the battle-field, and when the advance 
recommenced the harbour had been blockaded by Menshikov, 
and his communications with Russia had been secured. It was 
determined, therefore, to march round Sebastopol, and attack 
it on its southern side. On the 26th, Balaclava, with its 
harbour, was captured, but was found to be of less importance 
than had been expected. When the army arrived before 
Sebastopol and had taken up its position, it was decided to 
bombard the city, and the army had therefore to wait, before 
commencing operations, until October 17, in order that the 
siege train might be got into position. The fire opened on 
October 17, but as the days went on little impression was 
made, the Russians repairing at night the damage which had 
been done during the day. By the end of October, Menshikov, 



724 A GENERAL HISTORY [a .u. 1852-56 

the Russian commander, had been reinforced until his army 
numbered 130,000 men, and he determined to attempt the 
recovery of Balaclava, which, since its capture, had been put in 
a better position for defence by the allies. On October 25, the 
Russians began to bombard the position. Canrobert Hill, 
which was held by the Turks, was stormed, and there was a 
danger of the shipping in the harbour falling into the hands of 
the enemy, but this was prevented by the 93rd Regiment, 
under Sir Colin Campbell. At this juncture occurred the 
famous charges of the Heavy and Light Brigades, the former, 
by a brilliant move, breaking up a huge body of Russian cavalry, 
the latter, through a terrible mistake on the part of Lord 
Lucan, failing to effect anything, and being cut to pieces in 
the effort. The French well described the charge in the 
phrase, " C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre ! " 

Matters dragged on without any decisive blow being struck 

on either side until November 5, when was fought the battle 

of Inkerman, which had for its object the expul- 

Battle of g - on Q £ ^ e a ni es f rom the Crimea. Menshikov 

aimed chiefly at Mount Inkerman, on the British 

right. The battle was without decisive results, though the 

Russians lost 12,000 to the 3,000 of the allies, but it had the 

effect of convincing Menshikov of the impossibility of driving 

the allies from the plateau. During the winter, which had 

now begun, the troops suffered terribly, and by the end of 

November, it is stated, the British alone had 8000 men in 

hospital, into which a better system had been introduced by 

Florence Nightingale, the apostle of modern scientific nursing. 

Fall of the ^ n England public opinion was aroused against 

Aberdeen the Aberdeen ministry, who were held responsible 

Ministry. for the war, and, in January 1855, the ministry 

having been defeated, the formation of a new government was 

entrusted to Lord Palmerston. On March 2 occurred the 

death of the Emperor Nicholas, who died of a broken heart, 

brought about, finally, by the defeat of the Russians by the 

Turks at Eupatoria. 

The allied generals held the opinion that Sebastopol could 
only be captured by the fall of the Malakov Tower, but they 
were unable to effect this. On April 9, a second great bom- 
bardment began, in which the Russian defences suffered 
severely, but the result was disappointing, and the assault fixed 
for the 28th was not made. In view of the fact that the war 
seemed likely to be dragged out indefinitely, a conference was 



a.d. 1857-58] THE INDIAN MUTINY 725 

held at Vienna, in which Austria showed herself favourable 
to Russia, and in the negotiation which followed no conclusion 
was reached, on account of the unwillingness of Austria to 
take decided action. In a council held at Windsor, between the 
Queen and the Emperor of the French, who paid a visit to 
England at this time, it was decided that the army of the allies 
should be divided into two sections, one for the siege, and the 
other for operations. The British, 25,000 strong, formed the 
nucleus of the army of operations. The allied generals determined 
to prepare the way for a general attack by a third bombardment, 
which began on June 6. By the 9th, the Green Hill was in 
the hands of the allies, though it was obtained only with 
considerable loss. A fourth bombardment took place on June 
17, the Russian batteries being silenced by evening, but the 
attacks which followed on the 18th failed disastrously. Ten 
days later Lord Raglan died of dysentery. 

It was now determined by the Russians to make a general 
attack to attempt to drive the allies from their position, but 
this was a complete failure, and the Russians were compelled 
to retire within their defences again. It was thought by the 
allies that the time had now come for the storming of Sebastopol, 
which was fixed for September 8. The attack itself was not 
successful, except in the case of the taking of the Malakov ; 
but it was considered expedient to evacuate the 
town, great booty falling into the hands of the gJ °7 . 
allies. The war was not yet at an end, but 
nothing of importance remained to do, the allies being content 
to hold Sebastopol, and the Russians being too much weakened 
to accomplish anything. By the end of 1855 hostilities were 
practically at an end, and on February 21, 1856, the peace 
congress met for the first time at Paris, the actual treaty 
being signed on March 30. Its most important result was the 
neutralisation of the Black Sea. 

THE INDIAN MUTINY, A.D. 1857-58. 

But, although all parties needed peace to recover from the 
exhaustion caused by the war, England, at any rate, was not 
left long at rest. In India the native troops had been be- 
coming more and more restless for some time past, stirred up 
by fanatical native priests, who preached the expulsion of the 
whites from the country and the re-establishment of native rule. 
The immediate cause of the outbreak was the violation of religious 



726 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.»: 1849 to 

prejudices by the introduction of railways and the alleged use of 
cow's fat to grease cartridges. On May 10, 1857, a mutiny broke 
out among the Sepoys at Meerut ; other risings immediately 
followed at Delhi, Lucknow, Oawnpore, and Allahabad ; and the 
movement spread throughout the country. Dreadful atrocities 
took place. At Oawnpore, after a brave resistance, the garrison, 
marching out to embark in boats to carry them to safety, under 
the promise of a safe conduct, were fired upon, nearly all the 
men being killed, while the women and children were butchered 
in cold blood, later, and their bodies thrown into a well. Delhi 
fell into the hands of the mutineers, and a descendant of the 
Mogul dynasty was declared emperor. But the city was recap- 
tured on September 20, while Lucknow, which was closely 
besieged, was relieved by Havelock, after Sir Henry Lawrence 
had been killed, and finally rescued by Outram and Colin 
Campbell in March 1858. This was practically the end of the 
Indian mutiny. It owed its suppression to the prompt aid 
sent by Sir J. Lawrence to the Punjab, and the loyalty of the 
native princes as a whole, the majority of them being un- 
influenced by the movements towards revolution. As a result 
of it, in June of this year, an Act was passed to change the 
government of India. The powers and territories of the East 
End of the India Company were transferred to the crown ; 
East India a secretary of state for India was appointed ; and 
Company. a governor-general, with the title of viceroy, was 
sent out to represent the crown in India. Ever since, India 
has enjoyed complete tranquillity, and at the present day the 
Indian empire is attached to us by bonds stronger than ever. 

LOUIS NAPOLEON AND ITALY, A.D. 1849 TO A.D. 1859. 

In order to understand the events which now took place in 
Italy, it is necessary for us to go back to the time when Charles 
Albert resigned his crown, after the defeat of Novara, to his 
son, Victor Emmanuel, then twenty-nine years old. On March 
29, 1849, Victor Emmanuel swore fidelity to the constitution 
in the presence of the Chambers, but it did not seem as if he 
would be popular, for the armistice was generally distasteful. 

When a new house was elected, however, the treaty 
? ,lse of wa s ratified by a large majority. At this time 

Cavour, who had always been regarded as an 
aristocrat, came forward in support of the liberal cause, and won 
great popularity, becoming minister of agriculture and marine, 



a.d. 1859] LOUIS NAPOLEON AND ITALY 727 

on the death of Santa Rosa, in 1850. In 1852, thinking that 
the government should assume a more definitely liberal character, 
he formed a coalition with Ratazzi, the leader of the left centre, 
and on November 4, upon the resignation of cl'Azeglio, who had 
offended the pope by the introduction of a bill authorising civil 
marriage, he became prime minister, at the head of what is 
known as the " Great Ministry." By allying Sardinia with 
France and England in the Crimean War, Cavour raised his 
country in the eyes of Europe, and set it as a brilliant contrast 
to the feeble waverings of Austria, securing it a place among 
the powers, while by his wisdom in the congress at Paris he 
brought the Italian question before the world, for which he 
received the thanks and gratitude of the country. 

After the attempt by Orsini on the life of Napoleon III., 
Cavour, by the diplomatic skill which he displayed, cemented 
the friendship which the emperor had for Sardinia, Alliance of 
and brought about an alliance between the two France and 
powers for the abolition of Austrian rule in Sardinia. 
Italy, which Napoleon now felt strong enough to undertake, 
having made it impossible for Russia to render aid to the 
Austrians. It remained only to find a pretext for the war with 
Austria, and Cavour used every means in his power to bring it 
about. Garibaldi was called in, and it was arranged that a 
revolution should take place in the spring of 1859, in central 
Italy, to force the Austrians to make war. In France the 
prospect of a war did not meet with favour, but the emperor, 
attached as he was to Italy, was anxious to accomplish it. 
However, when a congress was suggested, Napoleon gave it his 
support ; but Cavour, who saw the likelihood of all his work 
being undone, was saved by the refusal of Austria to adhere to 
the plan of mediation. As a matter of fact, war had been 
decided upon at Vienna, as the only means available to crush 
the revolutionary spirit in Italy, once and for all. On April 10, 
an ultimatum was sent to Italy to disarm, and, on the 26th, 
the French ambassador at Vienna informed the prime minister, 
Buol, that any violation of the Sardinian frontier would be 
accepted as a declaration of war. 

On the 29th the Austrians crossed the frontier 200,000 
strong, with the object of crushing the Sardinians before the 
French could arrive, but the French had already 
crossed the frontiers of Savoy with 130,000 men, f U -war a 
while 8700 men landed at Genoa, and 4000 went 
to aid the Piedmontese in the mountains. By May 14 the 



728 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d.1849to 

French and Sardinians had joined forces, making a total of 
260,000 men, a number considerably superior to that of the 
Austrians. At this point, the Austrians made a grave 
strategical mistake by staying where they were, and confining 
themselves to a defensive policy, instead of attacking the com- 
bined army without loss of time. While the allies had full 
knowledge of the position of their opponents, the Austrians, in 
order to discover the movements of the enemy, sent Stadion 
to reconnoitre at the head of 18,000 men. This led, on 
May 30, to the battle of Montebello, the first encounter 
between the two armies, in which the allies were entirely 
successful, the Austrians being driven out of Genestrello, 
which they had occupied, and being forced to retreat to 
Oasteggio, with a loss of 1293, while the French losses num- 
bered 723. Napoleon's plan now was to attack the Austrian 
right wing, and advance upon Milan, the movement being 
masked by the Sardinians, who succeeded in capturing Palestro, 
which the Austrians were unable to regain. Both sides were 
aware that Palestro was the key of the position, as it com- 
manded the passage of the Serio, but all attempts to re- 
capture it proved to be in vain. In the meantime Garibaldi, 
who had been made a general, placed his headquarters at 
Varese, the Austrians being in full retreat, with their line 
stretching from Varese to Piacenza, and their troops in very 
bad condition. 

The battle of Magenta, a village on the road between Novara 
and Milan, about four miles from the Ticino, was fought on 

June 4. Between the town and the river lies a 
Masrenta canal, which is crossed by six bridges, all of 

which were strongly defended by the Austrians. 
Neither of the rival armies was at anything like its full 
strength, but the forces opposed to each other were practi- 
cally equal. From 10.30 a.m., when the first shots were fired, 
until 2 p.m. neither side gained any material advantage, but 
by 3.30 p.m. the position of affairs was decidedly favourable 
to the French. Still they were hard pressed, until, by the 
arrival of Macmahon, at five in the afternoon, the whole army 
was enabled to advance upon Magenta itself. Here fierce 
fighting took place, the village being strongly held ; but by 
9 p.m. the whole field of battle was in the possession of the 
French. The allies lost 4500 men, the Austrians 10,000, of 
whom 5000 were prisoners, and next morning Giulay gave 
the order to retreat, the emperor and Victor Emmanuel on 



a.d.1859] LOUIS NAPOLEON AND ITALY 729 

the following day entering Milan, where they were received 
with delirious joy. 

The Austrians now retired to the Quadrilateral — i.e. the 
district between the Adige, the Mincio, the mountains, and 
the sea — without serious opposition, the French reaching the 
Adda a few hours too late. No further engage- 
ments took place until the 24th, when the victory gr? • 
of Solferino put an end to the war. The battle 
was fought in a space twenty miles long and twelve broad, 
bounded to the north by the Lago di Garda, to the south 
by the Oglio, to the west by the Chiese, and to the east by 
the Mincio, and containing some of the most beautiful scenery 
in Europe. The allied army consisted of five French army 
corps, and five divisions of Sardinian troops, a total of about 
160,000 men, the Austrian forces, under the command of Francis 
Joseph, being about equal in number. On the morning of the 
23rd, the headquarters of the emperor of Austria were at Villa- 
franca, his plan being to advance upon the allies, take them by 
surprise, and drive them towards the Alps, leaving the decisive 
battle to be fought on the following day. The Austrians therefore 
crossed the Mincio, intending to advance to the Chiese on the 
next morning. Before they could do this, the allies had crossed 
the Chiese, intending to force the passage of the Mincio. It 
thus happened that the two armies came into collision unex- 
pectedly, and the problem was to convert a line of march into a 
line of battle with the least possible delay. The Austrian army 
at first attempted to carry out its original plan of turning the 
French right and driving it towards the Alps, the allies, how- 
ever, concentrating towards the centre of the Austrian line, 
and attacking Solferino and San Casciano. The French suc- 
ceeded in piercing the Austrian centre, the corps which had 
been sent to attack the French in flank being defeated. The 
only success gained by the Austrians was on the right, where 
they were able to hold the Sardinians in check, and this did 
not suffice to redeem the disasters elsewhere. The capture of 
Cavriano, the last village remaining in the hands of the 
Austrians, put an end to the battle, and the defeated army 
retreated beyond the Mincio. In the battle, the losses of the 
Austrians amounted to 21,500 men, those of the allies to 18,500. 

On July 6, negotiations for peace were opened between 
Napoleon and Francis Joseph, and on the 8th an armistice 
was arranged at Villafranca, which was to last until August 15. 
Next day, the emperors met at Villafranca, and the terms of a 



730 A GENERAL HISTORY [a .n. 1849-1859 

peace were discussed, which was finally concluded when Victor 
Emmanuel had given his consent, which it was practically im- 
possible for him to refuse. Lombardy was ceded 
eace o ^ Q g arc ji n i a . an Italian confederation was to be 

formed, with the pope at its head, and was to 
include Yenetia ; the Papal States were to be reformed ; Tuscany 
and Modena were to return to their dukes ; Parma was sur- 
rendered for a time, but was afterwards retained. Cavour was 
heartbroken, yet could do nothing but resign. 

After all, it was probably best that the war should be brought 
to an end at once. The peace of Villafranca freed Italy from 
the influence of France, both in fact and in the eyes of the 
other countries of Europe, and prepared the world for the final 
freedom achieved in 1870, when the Italian nation came into 
being, its nationality based upon principles which are likely 
to secure the permanence of Italian unity. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, A.D. 1861-1865. 

The Civil War in America owed its origin to the question of 
slavery, the North being opposed to the keeping of slaves, the 
South in favour of it. In 1815, the states of f^e 
the Union were equally divided between slavery Question of 
and "free soil," eleven being for slavery and Slavery, 
eleven against it. The feeling between the two parties became 
more and -more intense. In Boston, a paper called the Liberator 
was established, and, in 1832, the " New England Anti-Slavery 
Society " was founded. The dissensions came to a head on 
the question of admitting Texas, a slave-holding state, which 
had previously formed part of Mexico, to the Union. In 1850, 
feeling had risen so high that there was a danger of the breaking 
up of the Union, and every effort was used to effect a compro- 
mise. Gold had been discovered in California, and, when the 
question arose of the admission of that state to the Union, 
feeling ran high as to whether it should be slave or free, and 
a difficulty was also experienced in the question of the Mormon 
state of Utah. A compromise suggested by Senator Clay pro- 
vided that California should be free, Utah and New Mexico 
slave-holding, and this was adopted. To the South, however, the 
possession of slaves seemed a necessity, as it was impossible for 
her to hold her position by any other means, and even now she 
found herself slipping behind the North in the race for pre- 
eminence. In the North, on the other hand, the " free soil " 
feeling took a stronger and stronger hold upon the people, and, 
while only a small number of persons desired to abolish slavery 
in the districts in which it already existed, there was a general 
determination that it should not be allowed in any new addi- 
tions to the Union. In every extension this question had to be 
fought, and there could be no agreement while land remained 
to be occupied. A serious conflict ensued upon the creation of 
the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, which were opened 

731 



732 A GENERAL HISTORY [a. d. 1861 to 

conditionally to slavery by the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska 
Act, in 1854. 

In 1856 the Republican party was formed, which was of a 
decidedly anti-slavery complexion, but for a time was unable 
to effect anything, though public opinion was turned in its 
favour when the Democrats, who were headed by James Buchanan, 
the President, threw the new territories open unconditionally 
to slavery. In Illinois, Lincoln, an ardent opponent of slavery, 
was standing against Douglas, the father of the Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill, for election to the Senate, and stated the issue with 
unflinching firmness. He said, " I believe the government 
cannot endure half slave and half free. ... It must have all 
one thing or all the other." Douglas won, but Lincoln stood 
before the public as the champion of anti-slavery. 

Still Buchanan continued the struggle, and advocated the 
acquisition of Cuba, which would mean a large extension of 
John slave territory. On October 16, 1859, John 

Brown's Brown made a raid upon Harper's Ferry, in 

Raid. Virginia, for the purpose of liberating the slaves, 

and, though he was hanged and nothing came of the enterprise, 
he kindled a flame which spread through the whole country 
and ended in the abolition of slavery. In these circumstances, 
while public opinion was in a ferment, came the presidential 
election for 1860. The Democrats were divided among them- 
selves, while the Republicans voted in a body for Abraham 
Lincoln Lincoln, who was elected by 180 votes. The 

elected South felt this defeat to be irreparable, and 

President. determined to sever its connection with the 
North. South Carolina was the first to secede, and it was 
followed by Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, 
and Texas, President Buchanan making no attempt to prevent 
the secession. Arsenals, forts, and custom-houses belonging 
to the Federal central government were seized, 
S°mte and, when Major Anderson took possession of 

Fort Sumter in Charleston harbour, the batteries 
of the " Confederates " opened fire upon it, thus taking the 
initiative and firing the first shot of the civil war. 

Lincoln, although elected in November 1860, did not take 
up his presidential duties till March 4, 1861 ; and during this 
time Buchanan was responsible for the government. He 
denied the right of the South to secede, but, by his weakness, 
offended both sides equally. Meantime, the South formed a 
government, under the name of the Confederate States of 



a.d. 1865] THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 733 

America, and, on March 11, Jefferson Davis was chosen 
President, with his capital at Richmond. Lincoln, upon his 
election, made an appeal to the South not to Th e 
bring about a war, and declared the acts of Southern 
the secession government to be null and void ; Confederacy, 
but after the attack on Fort Sumter, although no one was 
killed, civil war became inevitable. 

On April 15, Lincoln issued a proclamation calling out 
75,000 of the militia, to which Davis replied by offering to 
issue letters of marque against Federal commerce, 
but the President immediately published a counter ^ r rea ° 
proclamation declaring that, as the Confederates 
were rebels, privateers would be treated as pirates. Several 
times as many volunteers as had been called for by Lincoln 
were immediately placed at his disposal, and great preparations 
for active service took place. The first blood was shed at 
Baltimore, where a Massachusetts regiment came into contact 
with a Confederate mob, three of the militiamen being killed ; 
while on May 24 four regiments of Federals crossed the 
Potomac, and seized the Arlington Heights. The President 
now summoned 42,000 volunteers for three years, and took 
upon himself to raise ten new regular regiments, in which he 
was supported by Congress, whereupon he asked for 400,000 
men, and 400,000,000 dollars, receiving, without demur, even 
more than he had asked. 

It was now determined to make an advance upon Richmond. 
The Confederate army under Beauregard, 22,000 strong, had 
occupied Manassas Junction, and MacDowell was sent to attack 
it with 30,000 men. The Confederates held the south side 
of the Bull Run stream, to the east of the junction. The 
battle of Bull Run took place on July 21, a 
Sunday, but skirmishes had taken place since Jt.,, 5M? 
the 18th, when the armies came into touch. 
MacDowell determined to attack on the left wing, so as to secure 
the railway, and thus be able to prevent Johnston, who had 9000 
men in the Shenandoah valley, from effecting a junction with 
Beauregard. The Federal army advanced in three divisions, 
but some of the troops were unable to cross the river, so that 
the force was split up and fought in detachments. Confederate 
reinforcements, 5000 strong, arrived upon the field, and turned 
the Federal right, upon which the whole army turned and fled 
for Washington, the defeat becoming a rout. The losses of the 
Federals were 1900, those of the Confederates 1500. Sherman, 



734 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. i86i to 

who commanded a brigade in the Federal army, said, " It was 
one of the best planned battles in the war, but one of the worst 
fought." 

The defeat of Bull Run was a bitter disappointment to the 

North, but had the effect of deepening its determination to 

fight to the end. General McClellan was now 

mmh summoned to Washington, and formed what was 

known as " the Army of the Potomac," out of the 
three years' volunteers. He had gained great renown by a 
brilliant success in western Virginia, where he had captured 
1000 men and seven guns, with hardly any loss to his own 
troops. He was made the popular hero, but successes served 
only to make him over confident. He allowed opportunity 
after opportunity to pass by, and when at last he made a move 
to cross the Potomac, it ended in the complete and discreditable 
defeat of a reconnoitring force, in October 1861, at Ball's Bluff. 
In consequence of this blunder, a joint war committee of the 
two Houses was formed, which did much good by its criticism 
in inspiring the generals to their utmost efforts. 

Ou the outbreak of the war, Great Britain took up a strictly 
neutral position, but the popular feeling was in favour of the 

Attitude of Confederates, as the blockade of the southern 

Great ports deprived Lancashire of cotton. The North 

Britain. was annoyed at this attitude, and, at the end of 

1861, a British royal mail steamer, the Trent, was stopped by 
a United States warship, and two Southerners, who were aboard 
her, were arrested. A war seemed likely, but was averted by 
the good sense of the Prince Consort. Meanwhile, the North 
exerted all its powers to capture Richmond, which was recog- 
nised as the principal objective, while a determined struggle 
also raged along the Mississippi, upon which were situated the 
great commercial cities of St. Louis, which belonged to the 
Federals, and New Orleans, which belonged to the Confederates. 
Thus the war, after 1861, was devoted to three objects — to main- 
tain the blockade, to capture Richmond, and to gain possession 
of the line of the Mississippi. 

In February 1862, Ulysses S. Grant, a subordinate Northern 

general, captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee and Fort 

Donelson on the Cumberland, involving the sur- 

Grant al render of 1 4,000 men, and forcing the Confederates 

to evacuate Columbus. In March, the famous 

battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac took place, putting 

an end to the destruction of Federal shipping by the last named 



a.d.1865] THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 735 

vessel. Two clays later, Lincoln relieved McClellan of bis 
command, and gave Grant charge of the campaign against 
Richmond. Grant, moving against Corinth, on the Tennessee, 
with 40,000 men, was attacked by Johnston, with an equal 
force, and was driven back two miles, one of his divisions being 
captured, but, on the other hand, Johnston himself being killed. 
Next day, Grant, having been reinforced by Buell from Nash- 
ville, renewed the attack. Beauregard, who had taken Johnston's 
place, determined to hold Shiloh church, but he was forced to 
withdraw, leaving his dead on the field. The 
battle of Shiloh was really the turning point of ghiioh ° 
the war, for it opened to the Federals the way to 
the sea, and made it possible for them to march to the rear of 
the Confederates and cut off supplies from Richmond. On April 
28, 1862, Admiral Farragut, with a comparatively small loss, took 
New Orleans, thus making it practically impossible for France, 
who had long been wavering, to recognise the Confederates. 

On March 13, 1862, it had been determined to seize Rich- 
mond, and, for this purpose, 121,500 men were concentrated at 
Monroe under the command of McClellan. If McClellan 
he had advanced upon Richmond as soon as he before 
arrived, on April 2, he might have captured it Richmond, 
without difficulty ; but instead he laid siege to Yorktown, which 
Joseph Johnston evacuated, leaving McClellan under the im- 
pression that he was still there, and being thus able to collect 
more troops and put Richmond in a position of defence. The 
Confederates now went into camp three miles from Richmond, 
and McClellan placed his forces, 127,000 strong, along the left 
bank of the Chickahominy. Johnston, who had 62,000 men, 
fought a battle at Fair Oaks, but without decisive result, and, 
being seriously wounded, was replaced by Robert E. Lee, 
in June 1862. As soon as he had assumed command, Lee, 
in a seven days' battle from June 25 to July 1, succeeded in 
driving McClellan from Richmond ; but his plan to capture the 
Federal base failed — Jackson, for once in his life, coming late. 
Next clay, however, followed the battle of Gaines Mills or 
Chickahominy, in which the Federals lost heavily and had to 
retreat to Malvern Hill, where McClellan made his last stand. 
Malvern Hill, on the side of the James River, is a broad plateau, 
on which the Federal army was arranged in a semicircle, with 
the right wing thrown back upon the river, the whole strongly 
defended by artillery. The battle was fought with little regard 
for concentration on the Confederate side, but McClellan was 



736 A GENERAL HISTORY [a. d. 1861 to 

forced to retreat to the river. The losses during the three 
battles were 15,000 on the Federal and 19,000 on the Confede- 
rate side. 

Lincoln now called for 300,000 volunteers, and made Halleck 
commander-in-chief. For the next four months numerous en- 
gagements took place, one side attempting to reach Richmond, 
the other Washington, but nothing was effected, though, on 
several occasions, greater energy on the Federal side would have 
achieved the defeat of the South. McClellan was superseded 
by Burnside, as he seemed unlikely to achieve anything. On 
August 30, the second battle of Bull Run was fought, between 
Lee on the Confederate and Pope on the Federal side. Before the 
battle Jackson was able to reinforce Lee with 18,000 men, and 
the result was the defeat, with heavy loss, of Pope, who had to 
retire to the Fairfax Court House, and later to the defences 
round Washington, where his forces were merged into the 
army of the Potomac. Lee now crossed the Potomac into 
Maryland, where he hoped to defeat McClellan and dictate 
peace in Independence Hall. The battle of Antietam was 
fought on September 17, 1862. Lee, with 40,000 men, occupied 
a strong position between Antietam and the Potomac. The 
battle, in which Burnside first captured a Confederate battery 
and then was forced to evacuate it, was indecisive, but it put 
an end to all idea of invading Maryland or Pennsylvania. 

Lee withdrew to Winchester, and McClellan took up his 

position on the Potomac ; but as he effected nothing decisive, 

even after he had been personally urged to do 

uenera go ^ v ^e President, he was, as we have seen, 

relieved of his command, and Burnside put in 
his place. Burnside aimed straight at Richmond, after orga- 
nising his army into three divisions under Sumner, Hooker, 
and Franklin ; but Lee, with a line 5^ miles long, occupied the 
heights to the south of Fredericksburg. On December 13, 
Burnside attacked the Confederate army on the heights, but 
his attack was a complete failure, the Federals losing 12,353 
men, under the murderous fire of the Confederates, who picked 
them off as fast as they could load, while Lee's losses amounted 
to only 4201. Lincoln, disgusted at the obvious incapacity of 
his general, ordered Burnside to make no further move without 
his knowledge; but in spite of this, on January 21, 1863, he 
started his army on what is known as the " Mud March," 
because it was stopped by a rainstorm, which probably saved it 
from still more disastrous losses. Burnside, in desperation, 



a.d.1865] THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 737 

sent in his resignation, which Lincoln accepted, appointing 
Hooker in his place. 

Hooker, however, was no better than his predecessor. By 
April 30, 1863, he had collected four corps at Chancellorsville, 
eleven miles from Fredericksburg, where Lee was entrenched. 
Lee, however brought up his troops, and, attacking Hooker, 
completely defeated him in a four days' battle, in which the 
great General " Stonewall " Jackson was killed. Public opinion 
in the South now began to demand that Lee should invade the 
North, more especially as it was hoped that a brilliant victory 
would gain recognition for the Confederates from Great Britain 
and France. In the beginning of June, therefore, Lee began 
his northward march, and invaded Pennsylvania. Hooker 
thought this a good opportunity to attack Richmond, but was 
advised not to do so by Lincoln, whose advice he accepted, but, 
being unable to agree with his officers, asked to be relieved 
of his command, Meade being appointed in his stead. Lee 
continued to advance, and a battle took place at Gettysburg on 
July 3. The Federals were posted on the Cemetery 
Ridge, the Confederates on the Seminary Ridge. Gettysburg 
The battle began at 1 p.m. with a cannonade. 
Following this, Lee moved forward 15,000 of his best troops at 
the charge, but they were decimated by artillery fire, and 
forced to retreat. Next day, the Confederates retired, having 
been entirely defeated, and having lost 36,000 men to the 23,000 
of the Federals. On the day of Lee's retreat, July 4, Vicksburg 
surrendered. It had been attacked by Grant and Sherman at 
the end of 1862, and the siege had continued ever since. On 
April 30, 1863, Grant, with 33,000 men, crossed 
the Mississippi, and, defeating the Confederates at f Grant* 5 
Raymond and Jackson, moved upon Vicksburg. 
At Champion's Hill, he entirely defeated the Southerners, 
who shut themselves up in the town, which he immediately 
invested. On May 22, Grant ordered an assault, but was 
repulsed with heavy loss, and therefore settled down to a 
regular siege. Food in the town became scarce, and after 
forty-seven days' siege, when a grand assault was imminent, 
Pemberton surrendered unconditionally with his army of 31,600 
men. With the capture of Vicksburg, the Mississippi was 
opened to the Federals, and the Confederate forces were cut 
completely in two. 

The chief interest of the war now centres in another part of 
the country, and it is to this that we must next turn our 

3 a 



738 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1861 to 

attention. In Tennessee, Rosecrans, opposed by Bi^agg, the 
Confederate general, was striving to gain possession of Chatta- 
■p he nooga, which is situated not far from the borders 

Struggle for of Alabama and Georgia. He succeeded in cap- 
Chatta- turing the town, and set out in pursuit of Bragg, 

nooga. who was in retreat. He came up with him on 

the bank of Chickamauga Creek, where, on September 19 and 20, 
1863, one of the bloodiest battles of the war was fought. Bragg 
had 71,500 men and Rosecrans 51,000. Bragg took the offensive, 
and made a feint upon the Federals' right, hoping to be able to 
crush their left and seize the roads leading to the town of 
Chattanooga. On the 19th, at 10 a.m., the battle was begun, 
but when operations were suspended in the evening the situations 
remained unchanged, the projected attack on the left having 
failed. The next day Bragg tried to carry out his previous 
plan, but was unable to make any impression on the Federal 
line. By a mistake, however, a gap of two brigades was made 
in Rosecrans' line, and the Confederates poured through it, 
breaking the Federal right and part of the centre. Rosecrans 
retired, believing the day to be lost ; but Thomas, having been 
sent to the extreme left, took up a strong position, and held it 
against every attack, retiring at night and taking up his position 
in the defences of Chattanooga, which had not been destroyed by 
Bragg when he evacuated it. Here, however, he was in turn 
besieged, and famine seemed unavoidable, when Grant, having 
been placed in command, established a better system of supply, 
and, with reinforcements under Hooker and Sherman, forced 
the Confederates to act on the defensive. 

The battle of Chattanooga, one of the most important in 
the war, took place on November 24-25, 1863. Grant had 
Battle of about 100,000 men, under Thomas, Hooker, and 
Chatta- Sherman. Thomas held the town of Chattanooga ; 

nooga. Hooker Lookout Valley, to the south of the 

town ; and Sherman the hills on the other side of the Ten- 
nessee. On the 24th, Hooker climbed Lookout Mountain, three 
miles from the town, and captured it. Sherman had at- 
tempted to take the Confederates in flank, by the capture of 
Missionary Ridge, but was able to accomplish little. On the 
28th, Thomas, ordered to advance along the base of Missionary 
Ridge, captured the ridge itself, 1 and the batteries which 
crowned it, and then, descending later into Chickamauga 
Valley, captured another ridge, and put Bragg to flight. The 
loss of the Confederates was 6687 and 6000 prisoners, while 



a. d. 1865] THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 739 

that of the Federals was only 5824. In February, when Grant 
was placed at the head of all the Federal forces, the war took 
on a new complexion. He was in command of Grant made 
four armies, and he took up his own headquarters Commander - 
with the army of the Potomac, intending Butler in-Chief, 
to advance to Petersburg, to cut off communications between 
Richmond and the south ; Sherman to oppose Johnston in 
Georgia ; Banks to capture Mobile and to close its harbour. The 
principal conflicts now took place in what is known as the 
Wilderness, south of the Rapidan. On May 4, 1864, Grant 
crossed the Rapidan with 122,146 men, and, on the following- 
day was attacked by Lee. Nothing was effected, but during 
the night trenches were dug by the Federals, and the fight 
was resumed next day, 15,000 falling on either side, but no 
definite results being achieved. On May 7, Grant moved 
forward to Spottsylvania, but after six days' fighting had not 
succeeded in striking a crushing blow at Lee's army. 

On May 8, Grant had sent Sheridan to ride round to the rear 
of the Confederates and do as much damage as possible. This 
he accomplished with great success, even penetrating the de- 
fence of Richmond and recapturing 400 Federal prisoners. 
Grant now sent Hancock to Richmond, hoping that Lee would 
attack him with his whole army, and allow the Federals to meet 
him undefended by earthworks. Lee, however, having the ad- 
vantage of a shorter line, was able to save his capital, where- 
upon he took up his position between Little River and Hanover 
Junction. In this position he was attacked by Burnside, who, 
however, could do nothing. The two armies came into con- 
tact again at Cold Harbour, not more than ten miles from 
Richmond. At 4.30 in the morning of June 3, the Federal 
attack was delivered, but, under the raking fire of the Con- 
federate batteries, which had been constructed with considerable 
skill, 400 veterans lay dead in less than a single hour, while 
the losses of the Confederates were very slight. Grant, seeing 
that the Confederates were unwilling to take any risks, but 
were determined to act purely on the defensive, decided to 
cross the James River and attack Richmond from the south. 
This he accomplished with masterly skill, during the week 
following the attack on Cold Harbour. He left that place on 
June 12, crossed the Chickahominy by a pontoon bridge, and 
reached the James on June 14. He threw a bridge across this 
river, and by the seventeenth his whole army was on the 
south of the stream, and in junction with Butler, bringing up 



740 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d.1861to 

the combined forces to 150,000 men. Seeing that he had been 
thus out-generalled, Lee retired with his 70,000 men into the 
defences of Richmond. 

Part of Grant's plan had been that Sherman should move 

south from Chattanooga and capture Atlanta, and, accordingly, 

Sherman's on May 5, Sherman set out with 100,000 men 

March to and 254 guns, and followed the railway line 

Atlanta. to Atlanta. He was opposed by Johnston with 

43,150 men, and a series of fights took place on the way, but 

by the end of May, with the loss of 10,000 men on each side, 

Sherman was well on the way to Atlanta. For the greater part 

of June, the two armies lay opposite each other at Pine Mountain, 

but, on June 27, Sherman made a vigorous attempt to capture 

Johnston's position in the battle of Kenesaw, but he was 

repulsed with considerable loss. He therefore determined to 

recross the railway, and move to the south, by which means, on 

September 2, 1864, he became master of Atlanta, Hood, who 

had superseded Johnston, being unable to resist him. 

At this time the presidential elections took place, Lincoln, 
who was opposed by McClellan, being re-elected by a large 
majority. He remarked with regard to his candidature that " it 
was best not to swop horses when crossing a stream." By the 
end of October, Sherman had determined upon marching through 
Sherman Georgia to Savannah, upon the sea-coast, the 
Captures capture of which city eventually put an end 
Savannah. to the war. On November 2, 1865, he left Atlanta 
with 55,000 infantry, 5000 cavalry, and 68 guns, and a large 
number of ambulances and waggons. The distance to be 
covered was about 300 miles : the army was divided into two 
wings, marching along parallel routes, but always in touch with 
each other. Nothing was heard of it for six weeks, but then the 
news of the capture of Savannah reached Washington. The 
army, in its march, occupied a space forty to sixty miles wide, 
the wealthier inhabitants making their escape, the negroes 
following the troops. There was very little fighting, except 
within a few miles of Savannah and in the city itself. On 
December 21, Savannah was occupied, and Sherman wrote to 
tell the President of his success. He said, " I beg to present 
to you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy 
guns, and plenty of ammunition : also, about 25,000 bales of 
cotton." During the whole march, which was a triumph of 
good generalship, Sherman lost only 764 men, whereas the 
capture of the city was an inestimable benefit to the Federal 



a.d.1865] THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 741 

side, being, in reality, the beginning of the end. But there 
was still work to be done before peace could be brought about. 
On February 1, 1865, he began to march northwards, through 
Columbia, a work of greater difficulty than his previous exploit. 
Columbia was captured on February 17, and, on the following 
day, Charleston was evacuated by the enemy. From Columbia, 
which he left on February 20, Sherman marched to Fayetteville, 
reaching it on March 11. He then fought a victorious battle, 
which gained him the possession of Goldsboro, on the road 
to Petersburg and Richmond. 

At the end of February, Sheridan moved up the valley 
of the Shenandoah, with 10,000 cavalry, defeated Early, and 
joined Grant on the James River. At the begin- , 

ning of April, he won the battle of Five Forks, March^ S 
while Grant broke through the Confederate lines. 
Sheridan moved up to Grant's support on the left, and Peters- 
burg, only 23 miles from Richmond, was completely surrounded. 
Lee, thereupon, telegraphed to his government that Richmond 
must be evacuated, which was accordingly done, the capital 
being taken possession of by a detachment of the Federal army. 
On April 9, 1865, the end came, Grant and Lee, 
at the Appomattox Court House, arranging the ^LeT ^ 
surrender of the army of Virginia. The terms 
allowed the troops to lay down their arms, and return to their 
homes without hindrance. Johnston, in North Carolina, sur- 
rendered to Sherman on the same terms, and by the end of 
May all the Confederate armies had followed these examples. 
To crown all, on May 10, Jefferson Davis, the Confederate 
President, was taken prisoner. This was the end of the war, 
but, before peace had been concluded, the man who had done 
more by his cool judgment and unflinching courage to gain 
the victory for the North, the President, Abraham 

Lincoln, was murdered at Washington. On April T . urd ? r ot 
a i -tti/t -r ■ i T-i 11 Lincoln. 

4, he was present, with Mrs. Lincoln, at r ord s 

Theatre, and, while sitting in his box, was treacherously shot 

by a young actor, named Booth, a violent secessionist. Thus 

died one of the greatest and most typical men the United States 

has ever yet produced ; but he had clone his work, and died 

for the cause for which so many of his fellow-countrymen 

had given their lives during the last four years — the cause 

of the emancipation of the slaves, which, it must be remembered, 

whatever other points of conflict were found as the war went 

on, was the fundamental cause of the struggle. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA, A.D. 1858-1S66. THE FRANCO-GERMAN 
WAR, A.D. 1870-71. 

On October 7, 1858, Prince William of Prussia became regent 
on behalf of King Frederick William IV., whose bad health 
prevented him from exercising his kingly functions, and took 
Prince Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as his prime 
minister. As soon as he had definitely taken up the reins 
of government, proposals were made to Prussia by Austria 
to take a share in the war in Italy ; but Prussia was unwilling 
to mix herself up in a quarrel whose only object was the 
confirmation of Austrian power, and the offer was therefore 
refused. The object nearest to the heart of the regent was 
the reconstruction of the Prussian army, and this he carried 
out thoroughly, with the assistance of Von Roon, the new war 
William II. minister. On New Year's Day, 1861, the regent 
and became king of Prussia, and hoped to get a 

Bismarck. military majority in the Landstag, but the new 
election gave a larger majority than ever to the progressive 
party. Determined, however, to hold to his policy, he made 
Bismarck-Schbnhausen, an ardent upholder of it, prime minister. 
Bismarck's dearest wish was to substitute Prussia for Austria 
as the head of Germany, and all his actions were directed 
towards this result. Seeing that he would meet with s;reat 
opposition from the Parliament, he governed for a time 
almost without its assistance, knowing that he was safe in 
the support of the army. At the beginning of 1863, Bismarck 
joined Russia in the suppression of a revolt in Poland, a step 
which, though it aroused considerable feeling throughout Europe, 
showed Prussia to be ready to act for herself in a case which 
she saw to be of importance. 

In July 1863, the emperor convened a congress at Frankfort 
to discuss a federation scheme which should place the central 
authority in the hands of Austria, but, upon Prussia's refusing 
to attend the congress, the scheme fell to pieces. At this 

742 



a. d. 1858-66] PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA 743 

moment, the Schleswig-Holstein question, which had been 
disturbing Europe for some time, entered into a new phase. 
On March 30, 1863, a new constitution was The , 
proclaimed in Denmark, by which Schleswig Schleswig- 
became a Danish province, Holstein still re Holstein 
taming to some extent her independent position. Question. 
Upon this, Austria, unwilling to let pass a question which 
was of vital importance to the smaller states, proposed that the 
Confederation should demand the withdrawal of the new con- 
stitution, upon pain of " federal execution." Bismarck had no 
reason to desire the establishment of a separate sovereignty 
of the two duchies under the duke of Augustenburg, as had 
been proposed by Austria. He wished to see them under a 
German confederacy, of which Prussia should be the head, and 
this he eventually achieved, though only at the cost of a war 
with Denmark. Denmark herself refused every kind of com- 
promise ; but, at this juncture, King Frederick VII. died, and 
the whole question at once assumed a wholly different aspect. 
Prussia and Austria were bound by the protocol of 1852 to 
acknowledge King Christian IX. of Denmark as duke of 
Schleswig-Holstein, but the new constitution had violated this 
protocol by incorporating the duchies in the Danish kingdom. 
Holstein was therefore occupied in December by Saxon and 
Hanoverian troops, and was evacuated by the Danes without 
a blow, but the Danes were prepared to defend Schleswig with 
all their forces. The federal Diet therefore refused to acknow- 
ledge the right of King Christian to the duchies, and demanded 
the immediate acceptance of Duke Frederick, thus breaking with 
the provisions of the London protocol. 

This action exactly suited Bismarck, who could now act as 
one of the great European powers who had signed the protocol. 
Austria adopted a similar policy, and threatened _ 

to occupy Schleswig with 60,000 men unless ^. 
the constitution were repealed. This being refused, 
war was at once declared, and Schleswig was attacked by 
a joint force of Prussians and Austrians, 57,000 strong, under 
the command of Wrangel. Bismarck, in his own country, had 
to pursue an isolated policy, but, when supplies for the war 
were refused, he threatened resignation, and the king was 
forced to agree to the foreign policy which he wished to carry 
out. To the Austrians and Prussians the Danes opposed an 
army of 55,000, under de Meza. The duchy of Schleswig was 
protected by the Dannewerk (an ancient earthwork guarded 



744 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1858 to 

by morasses), which was regarded as impregnable ; but, by 
the freezing of the morasses, the allies were able to attack it 
directly, and the position was evacuated. On March 6, Jutland 
was invaded, and, on April 18, Diippel was stormed with great 
loss to the Danes, of whom 3600 were made prisoners. This 
victory aroused great enthusiasm in Berlin, the king himself 
going to Schleswig to review the conquering army on April 21. 
Great Britain, averse to the Prussian annexation of the duchies, 
summoned a conference in London, but it separated without 
result, the powers deciding to leave Denmark to her fate. As 
soon as the conference had broken up, hostilities were resumed, 
and Prince Frederick Charles attacked and captured the island 
of Alsen, which forced the Danes to sue for peace. Terms of 
peace were eventually signed at Vienna on October 30, 1864, 
Schleswig-Holstein being freed from Danish rule, and being 
placed under the joint administration of Prussia and Austria ; 
and it was owing to the divergence between the policies of 
the two countries, which immediately became apparent, that 
the Austro-Prussian war took place. 

Meanwhile, in Rome, a treaty had been signed on September 
15, 1864, which provided that the French, who formed the 
garrison of the city, should evacuate it within two years, on 
condition that Florence instead of Turin should be made the 
capital of Italy. This ca vised discontent in Turin, but was, 
nevertheless, carried out, the government being transferred 
to Florence. The situation between Austria and Prussia still 
continued to be strained, Austria vacillating between Bis- 
marck's policy and that of the Germanic Confederation, which 
still clung to Augustenburg. The differences became more and 
The Con- more acute, until, by the Convention of Gastein in 
vention of August 1865, it was agreed that Austria should 
Gastein. \) e responsible for Holstein, and Prussia for 

Schleswig. In France this arrangement was regarded with 
suspicion, but Bismarck was able to reassure Napoleon, pointing 
out that a strong Prussia would be an assistance to France, 
whereas a weak Prussia would always be seeking allies against 
a hostile France. At this moment, the world was astonished 
by a proposal made by Austria to La Marmora, the prime 
minister of Italy, for the cession of Venetia. This offer 
Marmora refused : Venetia was only to be gained by fighting 
for it. Austria was, however, disposed to treat Italy with con- 
sideration, when, suddenly, Prussia acknowledged Victor Em- 
manuel as king of Italy, thus ruining all chance of continued 
good feeling between Austria and Italy. 



a.d. 1866] PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA 745 

Meanwhile, affairs in Schleswig and Holstein became worse 
and worse. Friction arose between the Prussian and Austrian 
representatives in the duchies, and, at last, on January 26, 
1866, Bismarck wrote to Vienna to complain of the aggressive 
policy of Austria, and received a reply denying the right of 
Prussia to interfere in the affairs of Holstein. It was evident 
that the alliance between Prussia and Austria was at an end. 
It was now necessary for Prussia to gain over France and Italy 
to her side, and in April an offensive and defensive alliance 
was concluded with the latter. Austria was seriously alarmed 
at this, and began to mass troops on the frontier, being unable 
to gain any satisfactory answer to her questions from Bis- 
marck. It became necessary for Bismarck to bring about war 
with Austria within three months, the alliance with Italy 
having only been made for that period. He first attempted 
to secure his end by a proposal to reconstruct the Confedera- 
tion, but this proved a failure, and, although it had the effect 
of making Austria mobilise her troops, which was replied to 
by the mobilisation of the Italian army, Prussia was held back 
by the unwillingness of the king to go to war. 

On May 21, Bismarck made a final proposal for peace with 
Austria. The duchies should be united under the government 
of Prince Albert of Prussia, and Prussia and 
Austria should undertake the reform of the Con- ?_.' 
federation. Mensdorff, however, wrote, on May 
28, that he was sorry that the strained relations between the 
two countries did not permit of intercourse on friendly terms. 
Napoleon now issued invitations to attend a congress, which 
was declined by Austria, who summoned the Diet to settle the 
difficulties in Germany. This was practically a declaration of 
war, as it was certain that the Diet would give its verdict 
against Prussia. On June 14, the resolution of the Diet was 
taken, and decided against Prussia, upon which the Prussian 
ambassadors were recalled and war began. The forces, as 
regards numbers, were fairly equally matched, the Prussians 
having 263,000 men, the Austrians 261,000, but in quality the 
Prussians were infinitely superior. The Prussians lost no time 
before beginning operations. Within three days, Hanover, 
Saxony, and Hesse were in their hands, and 75,000 troops had 
been rendered useless to the Confederation. In Italy, the 
outbreak of the war was the occasion of great joy, over 240,000 
men were immediately mobilised, and it was thought that the 
Hungarians might also be roused against their Austrian 



746 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1858 to 

neighbours, it being proposed to send Garibaldi into Hungary 
for the purpose, with 35,000 volunteers. At length, a declara- 
tion of war was sent to the Archduke Albert, and three days 
later, La Marmora made an attack on the Quadrilateral. In 
the battle fought at Custozza, La Marmora had 140,000 men, 
Archduke Albert only 82,000. But La Marmora was com- 
pletely defeated, not more than half of his troops ever coming 
into action at all. 

On June 18, the Prussians entered Dresden, the Saxon armies 
retreating into Bohemia, in order to join the Austrians. The 
Prussian troops were well received, and treated the inhabitants 
with great kindness, even assisting the peasants to carry in the 
hay harvest. The occupation of Saxony rendered the invasion 
of Bohemia easy. It was undertaken by two armies, one under 
the crown prince, the other under Prince Frederick Charles, 
and by the last day of June, after a series of conflicts, the two 
armies were able to open communication with each other, the 
Austrian general, Benedek, being forced to retreat to Koniggratz, 
from whence he telegraphed to the emperor begging him to make 
peace. To this, the emperor replied that it was impossible to 
make peace, and implied that he wished a decisive battle to 
take place. Accordingly, on June 3, Benedek fought the battle 
Battle of °f Koniggratz. This, at first favourable to the 

Konig- Austrians, was decided in favour of the Prussians 

gratz. by thg timely arrival of the crown prince, Benedek 

retreating to Koniggratz with the fragments of his army. 
The way now lay open to Vienna, and Benedek said that he had 
lost everything except the life which he desired to lose. The 
effect of this victory in France was immense, and the French 
were alarmed to see that a great power had suddenly sprung 
into existence by their side, a power whose intentions they were 
at a loss to determine. 

Meanwhile Prussia was gaining victories in other parts of 
Germany. In the first days of July battles were fought at 
Dermbach, Hammelburg, and Kissingen, all favourable to the 
Prussians, while, on July 16, Frankfort was occupied, Prince 
Alexander retiring to the Odenwald. The main army, after 
resting for a few days after the battle of Koniggratz, advanced 
to Prague, which it occupied without resistance. The Austrians 
still held the railway between Olmiitz and Vienna, but, before 
Benedek could convey his army to Vienna for the defence of 
the city, these communications had been destroyed, and, on 
July 18, 1866, King William encamped within sight of Vienna. 



a.d. 1866] PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA 747 

A last struggle took place on July 22, and Pressburg, the key 
of the passage between Austria and Hungary, was on the point 
of being captured, when it was reported to the Prussians by 
an Austrian messenger that a truce had been agreed upon. 
Austria was anxious for peace, as she could expect no assistance 
from France, and the peace of Prague was there- 
fore concluded as soon as possible, the result of Prague* 
which was the exclusion of Austria from the Bund, 
the annexation by Prussia of Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, 
Hesse, and Nassau, and the payment by the Austrians of an 
indemnity of 20,000,000 thalers. The war between Italy 
and Austria continued until the signature of the peace of 
Prague, but, though, in a sea battle at Lissa, the Austrians 
gained a victory, an armistice was signed on July 25, by 
which Italy was recognised as a kingdom by Austria, and 
Venetia was ceded to her. The French garrison departed 
from Rome before the end of the year, but when Garibaldi 
made a raid on the Papal States he was completely defeated at 
Mentana and taken prisoner. 

The close of the Austro-Prussian war left the Emperor 
Napoleon in a worse condition than ever, but it was his policy 
in Mexico which gradually brought about his 
downfall. Napoleon wished to establish the Arch- ^Meifcl? 1 
duke Maximilian of Austria on the throne of 
Mexico, and therefore, in the early part of 1862, he sent a 
French force to that country, with the object of deposing 
Juarez, the President, and placing Maximilian on the throne. 
This was effected, and, on April 14, 1864, Maximilian set out 
for Mexico, France guaranteeing to see him firmly established 
on his new throne. This was done, but the French acted in a 
disgraceful manner to the new emperor, and, owing to the 
insistence on the part of the United States on the withdrawal 
of French troops from Mexico, Maximilian was betrayed to his 
enemies, the revolutionaries, and, after making the best defence 
possible at Queretaro, he was captured by Juarez, and executed. 
The whole business was an ineffaceable stain on the honour of 
France and the Emperor Napoleon, and undoubtedly hastened 
the fall of the empire. In 1867 was held the Paris Exhibition, 
a glorious prelude to the tragedy which was so soon to be 
played. From this time on matters in France went from 
bad to worse, and the emperor could not disguise from him- 
self the fact that his ascendancy must soon come to an 
end. 



748 A GENERAL HISTORY [ad. isto to 

On December 11, 1866, the French garrison left Rome, and 
the revolutionaries in Italy sought for a leader to help them to 
Rome and realise their dream of having Rome as the capital 
the French of Italy. This leader was found in Giuseppe 
Garrison. Garibaldi, who immediately stirred up feeling 
against the pope. But the French determined that, if any 
move were taken against papal territory, they would send an 
army to the support of the Holy Father. An attempt having 
been made to enter Rome by the Tiber, a French expedition was 
immediately sent to the Eternal City, the Italians, alarmed at 
the return of the French, immediately placing an army in papal 
territory, so that there were now four armies in the pope's 
dominions — the French, the papal troops, the Italians, and the 
Garibalclians. A battle took place at Monte Rotondo, in which 
Garibaldi was defeated and taken prisoner, as has been already 
related. At the beginning of 1868 the emperor was extremely 
anxious concerning the designs of Prussia, the more so that all 
hope of an alliance with Italy was at an end, and France would 
have to stand alone in any contest. 



THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR, A.D. 1870-71. 

Meanwhile Bismarck, desiring above everything to make war 
upon France, and feeling confident that the Prussian army was 
quite capable of overwhelming that of France, was anxious not 
to allow any chance of a quarrel to slip through his hands. 
The actual cause of the war was the revolution in Spain. 
Queen Isabella was expelled from her country by the Spaniards, 
and it became necessary to find a new king, supposing that a 
monarchy were decided upon. One candidate for the throne 
was Leopold of Hohenzollern, to whose candidature Bismarck 
was very favourable. France, however, was determined that 
Leopold should not receive the Spanish throne, as this would 
greatly strengthen the Prussian position in Europe, and when 
he had agreed to put himself forward as a definite candidate, 
Gramont, the French foreign minister, sent an imperious 
message to Berlin. War now began to be seriously thought 
of in France, and at a council at St. Cloud, held on July 6, 
Lebceuf, the war minister, promised 250,000 men within four 
days. Benedetti was sent to Prussia to see King William and 
ask him to order Prince Leopold to withdraw his candidature, 
but, not receiving an immediate answer, was informed by 
Gramont that he could not wait for it longer than the following 



a.d. 1871] FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 749 

day. On July 12, the candidature was withdrawn, but France 
was not satisfied. She had not humiliated Prussia as she 
desired, and Benedetti was therefore ordered to demand from 
the king a guarantee that he would never support such a 
candidature. This was naturally refused, but matters might 
have closed smoothly had not Bismarck delibe- 
rately stirred up strife between the two countries. P? lic y of 
He altered portions of a despatch which he had 
received from the king, and made it appear that negotia- 
tions had been broken off. In the two capitals the publi- 
cation of this despatch raised passions to fever heat. In 
Berlin it was believed that Benedetti had insulted the king, in 
Paris that the king had insulted Benedetti. Even now, how- 
ever, peace might have been preserved, but, in reality, both 
nations were straining for war, and the final touch which in- 
clined the balance to the side of war was given by the empress, 
who insisted that peace was incompatible with the honour of 
France. France declared war on July 19, and the rival armies 
immediately began their mobilisation. 

It now became apparent how greatly France had overrated 
her preparedness for war, whereas the Prussian army was ab- 
solutely ready for action, in every detail, and was 
prepared to march at almost a moment's notice. b e H ns ar 
At the end of July, the French main army, 
200,000 strong, was placed in the neighbourhood of Metz, and 
was joined by the emperor, the prince imperial, and Leboeuf. 
In the direction of Alsace lay the southern army under 
Macmahon, while at Chalons lay a third, composed of re- 
servists and gardes mobiles, who were, however, by no means 
fit for a campaign. The German army was also divided into 
three main divisions, or sections — the right wing, under Stein- 
metz, 61,000 strong — the left wing divided into two divisions, 
one, 206,000 strong, under Prince Frederick Charles, the other, 
180,000 strong, under the crown prince — while the centre was 
under the command of the king, with Moltke as chief of staff. 
The whole German forces were reckoned at about 984,500 men, 
the French at 798,000, but the numbers actually in the field 
were considerably less than these estimates. 

The first action took place at Saavbriicken, where the French 
drove the Prussians back, and succeeded in occupying some 
Prussian territory. This attack was answered by the crown 
prince in the battle of Weissenberg, on the Lauter, whence the 
French, under Douay, who was mortally wounded in the battle, 



750 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. mo to 

were driven with considerable loss, 700 being made prisoners. 

Macmahon, seeing a general attack by the Germans to be 

imminent, took up a strong position on the left 

German bank of the Sauer, with his centre holding 

ViCu0ri6s. . ^ 

Worth, placing his headquarters at Froeschweiler. 

Here he was attacked by the crown prince with 90,000 men, 
as against his own 40,000. Worth was captured, and the French 
army took to flight, leaving France open to the Germans. On 
July 6, the army of Lorraine was also defeated. Frossard estab- 
lished his headquarters at Forbach, his army stretching from 
Stieringen to Spicheren. The battle began at eleven in the 
morning, and by evening the French, overwhelmed by the 
continual reinforcements of the Prussians, were compelled to 
retreat, losing 4000 men in the struggle. 

By the 7th, news of the defeats reached Paris, and a demand 
for the deposition of the emperor was heard, coupled with a 
determination to put Paris in a condition of defence. Napoleon 
surrendered the military command to Bazaine. It was now de- 
termined to withdraw the whole army behind the Meuse, and 
the retreat was begun on August 14. They were followed by 
Bazaine * ne Prussians, and at Borny, in the neighbour- 

shut up in hood of Metz, Bazaine, wishing to free himself 
Metz. from the rear attacks made by the Germans, 

fought the battle of that name, which produced no decisive 
result, the Prussian losses being rather larger than those of 
the French. On August 16, the French were surprised at 
Vionville, but a furious resistance was made. On the arrival 
of the crown prince, however, Bazaine retired to the neighbour- 
hood of Metz, which was immediately invested by an army of 
175,000 men, under Prince Frederick Charles. It was Bazaine's 
intention to retreat to Verdun, but, by wasting seven clays, 
he gave the Prussians time to cut off his retreat, so that he 
had to remain in his original position, with his headquarters at 
Plappeville. In the operations occasioned by this, an action 
was fought at St. Privat, in which the Prussians were success- 
ful, the French being gradually forced back upon Metz. 

In the meantime, matters going so hardly for the French, 

they began to look round for an ally, but they had previously 

The Capitu- alienated all those who could have been likely 

lation of to help them, and, after the events of August 

Sedan. it was hopeless to expect assistance. Macmahon 

set out from Reims with 130,000 men, to try to effect a junction 

with Bazaine, but this he was unable to do, the Prussians under 



a.d. 1871] FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 751 

Moltke closing in upon him on every side. On August 30 
was fought the battle of Beaumont, where all the French 
baggage and a large number of prisoners fell into the hands 
of the enemy, the French camp being finally pitched at Sedan. 
At Sedan, on September 1, was fought the bloodiest, and, to 
the Frenfch, the most disastrous battle of the war. Early in 
the day Macmahon was wounded, and the command was taken 
by Wimpffen. But Moltke had laid his plans too carefully for 
any escape for the French to be possible, and, in the evening 
the emperor, who was present at the battle, surrendered to 
the king of Prussia, all the army being made prisoners, to 
the number of 104,000. 

In Paris, the news of the surrender caused a revolution, 
which was probably engineered by the advanced liberals, under 
Blanqui. On the proposal of Thiers, a " govern- £ n ^ f ^e 
ment of the national defence" was formed, of Second 
which Trochu, whom Napoleon had made com- Empire, 
mander of Paris, was the head. The empress, seeing that 
all was lost, fled to England, and it was determined to defend 
Paris against the Prussians, who were already almost at 
its gates. By September 19, the investment of the city was 
complete, 250,000 men being employed. Paris was extremely 
strongly defended, but the Prussians had no desire to storm 
the capital, knowing that the 2,000,000 people who were shut 
up in it could not long be supplied with food, and that the 
city must then fall. The lines of investment were therefore 
made quite impenetrable, and the Parisians were left to " stew 
in their own juice," as Bismarck said. Meanwhile, Strassburg 
had been captured by the Prussians, and Toul, in Lorraine, 
fell on September 23, after a terrible bombardment. 

A natural result of the fall of the empire was the withdrawal 
of the French troops from Rome, and the establishment of 
it as the capital of Italy. On August 29, a 
declaration was made that the capital would be The Italians 
transferred to Rome before the end of September. 
Victor Emmanuel proposed that the pope should be left in 
charge of the Leonine city — that is to say, the part of the 
city across the Tiber — but this the pope refused, and the division 
between church and state still continues. On September 11, 
the Italian troops entered the papal territory, and Viterbo was 
occupied without opposition. The city of Rome was garrisoned 
by 9000 men, but the extent of wall to be defended was too 
great for an adequate provision to be made at all points against 



752 A GENERAL HISTORY La.d. 1870 to 

attack. The storm began on September 20, and after three 
hours' fighting the Italians had penetrated the walls, and Rome 
was in their hands. A plebiscite taken on October 2 decided, 
by 136,681 votes to 1507, for the annexation of the papal 
territory, an event which, in the general turmoil of European 
affairs, passed almost without notice. 

On October 5, King William moved his headquarters to 

Versailles, while St. Cloud and Malmaison were destroyed, 

at least partially, by the French themselves. 

biege ot Sorties from Paris were of frequent occurrence, 

but little was gained by them. Bazaine, who 
might, even now, have changed the fortunes of the war, if 
he had continued to hold out in Metz, capitulated at the end 
of October, his whole army — 160,000 strong — becoming prisoners 
of war. During the remainder of 1870, numerous engagements 
took place around Paris ; indeed it may be said that the northern 
half of France was one large battlefield, the gardes mobiles and 
free corps, who had been joined by Garibaldi and his sons, 
giving great trouble to the Prussians. But the general result 
was that town after town fell, and the position of Paris became 
more and more hopeless, although numerous attempts were 
made to relieve it. In the city itself, Trochu did his best to 
second these attempts by repeated sorties, but all was in 
vain. On December 26, St. Stephen's Day, the bombardment 
of Paris, which had been long deferred, was begun, and con- 
tinued until January 19, when Trochu made one last effort and 
marched with his whole force of 100,000 men in the direction 
of St. Cloud. After an obstinate fight, he was driven back 
upon Paris, with a loss of 7000 men. An armistice was eventu- 
ally signed on January 28, to last until February 19. 

Before this the peoples of Germany had offered the crown 

of the German empire to King William, in view of the brilliant 

success of his arms in the war. On December 

Em?re rma11 18 ' 1870 ' a de P utation waited upon the king 
asking him to accept the new dignity, and he 
personally acceded to it, the new state of things being arranged 
to come into existence on January 1 of the following year. 
William was crowned emperor at Versailles, on January 18, 
1871, the 117th anniversary of the foundation of the Prussian 
kingdom under Frederick I. In Paris, preparations were being 
made for a capitulation, which was carried out without difficulty, 
but the republicans refused to accept the situation, and fighting 
broke out again, Bourbaki being directed to invade Alsace. 



a.d. 1871] FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 753 

He was, however, surrounded by Werder, and his army, to 

avoid a capitulation, crossed the frontier into Switzerland, 

thus putting out of action the last of the four 

armies of France which had tried in vain to thW 

oppose the superior discipline of the Prussians. 

So ended one of the most remarkable wars in history, in which 

larger masses of troops were employed than in any previous 

conflict. The losses of the Germans amounted to 118,000 men ; 

those of the French are too numerous to calculate ; while, whereas 

only 10,000 Germans were captured, at least, 400,000 Frenchmen 

fell into the hands of tbe Prussians. 

When Paris had been occupied by the Prussians, a new 
National Assembly was elected, which met at Bordeaux, con- 
sisting; of 750 deputies, of whom the maiority 
were republicans, while Paris itself elected many » w" 
revolutionaries. Thiers was placed at the head 
of the executive, and on March 1 peace was ratified by the 
Assembly, by 546 votes to 107, Napoleon III. being formally 
deposed. On the same day, the German troops marched through 
the streets of Paris, a severe blow to French amoitr propre. 
The Parisians refused to acknowledge the Bordeaux Assembly, 
saying that the terms of peace to which it had agreed were 
disgraceful. On March 15, the National Guards established 
themselves at- the Hotel de Ville, hoisted the red flag, and 
formed the central committee of the Commune, the Paris 
president of which, Edward Moreau, was a com- and the 
mission agent. Arrangements were made for the Commune. 
elections, and several battalions of the National Guard were 
assembled in the Place Yendome. On March 21, fighting took 
place between the troops of the Commune and the supporters 
of the National Assembly, which did not weaken the power of 
the committee. The elections were held on March 26, and the 
Commune was proclaimed, but the new committee was made up 
of men of very various opinions, few of whom were in agreement 
with each other. However excellent were the intentions of the 
Commune, it was made up of elements too contradictory to be 
able to effect anything, and Paris was continually harassed by 
the soldiers of the Assembly which was sitting at Versailles. 
It was finally decided by Thiers to besiege Paris Second 
a second time, and this was undertaken, with the Siege of 
help of the troops who had returned from captivity Paris, 
in Germany, under Macmahon. As he gradually conquered 
quarter after quarter of the city, the Commune was driven to 

3 B 



754 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1871 

terrible lengths in its determination to leave nothing but a 
ruin to fall into the hands of the enemy. The hostages were 
murdered — Darboy, archbishop of Paris, being murdered at the 
altar — public buildings were destroyed ; but MacMahon at length 
became master of the city. The supporters of the Commune 
were treated with ruthless severity : 17,000 were executed, and 
the Socialists were entirely stamped out. New elections were 
held on May 1, and the moderate Republicans obtained a victory. 
Thiers, against whom there was no real opposition, as he held 
the predominant place in the country, was elected President of 
the French Republic, with the power of appointing and dis- 
missing ministers. It was provided, however, that he as well 
as his ministers should be responsible to the Assembly. This 
meant the formation of a moderate republic, opposed equally to 
monarchy and to socialism, and it was on these principles that 
the final and definite constitution was formed in 1875. During 
The Treaty the height of these disturbances the peace of 
of Frank- Frankfort was signed on May 10, by Bismarck on 
f° rt - the one side and by Jules Favre and Pouyer- 

Quertier on the other. The arrangements concerning the 
indemnity of five milliards and the tracing of the frontier 
between Belfort and Thionville received the approval of the 
German Emperor and of the French Assembly. The closing of the 
war was received with great joy by the Germans, the foundation of 
the Empire being regarded as a kind of religious duty imposed upon 
them by Gocl, .which had been safely and honourably discharged. 
The first German Reichstag or Parliament met on March 21, 
1871, in Berlin, and had to consider the question of the govern- 
ment of Alsace and Lorraine. A sum of 12,000,000 marks was 
voted as a present to the generals and statesmen who had 
contributed to the success of their country in the war, and 
a similar sum was granted to the various governments as 
assistance towards the support of the reservists and others who 
were liable to military service. 

To sum up the results of the Franco-Prussian war, which 
was so full of consequences to either country : To the Germans 
it meant the creation of the Empire and the unity of the country 
under Prussia ; to the French it meant the establishment of the 
Third Republic and the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, together 
with the disappearance of the Bonaparte name from the annals 
of France ; while in Italy, through the enforced withdrawal of 
French support from the Papal States, it meant the overthrow 
of the temporal power of the pope, and the establishment of the 
Italian capital at Rome. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

TURKEY AND EGYPT, A.D. 1875-1898— THE SOUTH AFRICAN 
WAR, A.D. 1895-1902. 

England had witnessed the aggrandisement of Prussia and the 
fall of France, if not with indifference, at least with outward 
calm. She had desired to interfere in defence of Gladstone 
Denmark, but was convinced by reflection how and 
unwise such a course would be. The struggle Disraeli, 
between Prussia and Austria was one in which she could 
well remain neutral, there being no reason why she should 
favour one party rather than the other ; and in the mighty 
struggle between France and Germany, although there were 
reasons which impelled her to action on both sides, an attitude 
of strict neutrality was a prudent if hardly a dignified course. 
Consequently when peace came, although Gladstone's ministry 
had covered itself with credit in respect of liberal progress at 
home and of temperate abstention from complications which 
might be dangerous abroad, and had set an example of high- 
minded love of peace in the settlement of the Alabama dispute 
with America, yet when a new Parliament had to be elected in 
1874, the dissatisfaction with Gladstone's pacific policy was 
shown by a triumphant victory for the Conservative party at 
the polls. Contrary to his own expectations and to those of 
Europe generally, Disraeli found himself called to power without 
a policy and without a cry, except a mandate to reverse the 
conduct of his predecessor. 

The new prime minister therefore determined that the voice 
of England should be heard in foreign politics, and a dispute 
was raging at the moment between Russia and The Con- 
Turkey, which gave him an opportunity of carrying dition of 
this into effect. The condition of Turkey at this Turkey, 
time was one of great disorder, several of the smaller states 
included in her dominions being anxious for separation. It 
was impossible for her to carry out reforms in these subject 
provinces, however anxious she might be to do so, and she had 

755 



756 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1875 to 

recourse to those methods of violent repression which have 

always been her resource, but which in more civilised times can 

no longer be treated with the toleration which they once 

received. After the treaty of Frankfort, the relations between 

the Christians and their Mohammedan masters became less 

endurable, and, the condition of finance in Turkey being that of 

a national bankruptcy, the Turkish tax farmers in the provinces 

resorted to the most cruel methods to extract money to pay 

The Revolt themselves and the troops. In July 1875, an 

in Herze- armed insurrection caused by these abuses broke 

govina. ou t first in Herzegovina and then in Bosnia. 

Women, children, and old men took refuge in Austria and 

Montenegro, while the men and youths began a regular warfare 

against the Turkish troops. The rising rapidly gained strength, 

and the insurgents took up strong positions in the passes and the 

ravines. 

Russia now came forward as the protector of the Slavs. 

Prussia and Austria were not unwilling to support her in this 

action, but England refused to take their side. 

Russia Matters became worse by Bulgaria's ioinine the 

Intervenes. . , . . . , n . J & J & . . 

insurrection and its being put down by atrocities 

which horrified the public opinion of Europe. Thousands of 
Christian men, women, and children were murdered, mutilated, 
or violated. The news came before Parliament, investigation 
proving the truth to be worse instead of better, and it was 
now seen that the policy of Disraeli, shortly to become Lord 
Beaconsfield, was entirely different from that of Gladstone, as 
he treated the matter with cynical .indifference. Gladstone 
published a pamphlet on the " Bulgarian Atrocities," demand- 
ing the entire withdrawal, " bag and baggage," of the Turks 
from their European provinces. Beaconsfield at the Guildhall, 
on November 9, seemed to threaten war against Russia. A 
conference was held at Constantinople, which produced no 
effect, and the emperor of Russia determined to proceed with 
his work alone, and in April 1877 declared a war which he 
hoped might be the harbinger of a new day for the Slavic race. 
After a severe struggle, the war was decided in favour of the 
Russians by the fall of Plevna. The victorious army descended 
The Treaty the valley of the Maritza, and, on the last day 
of San of January 1878, an armistice was signed at San 

Stefano. Stefano which led to the treaty of that name, the 

wisest measure ever proposed for the pacification of the Balkan 
Peninsula. It created a new Bulgaria, with a seaport ; Servia, 



a.d. 1898] TURKEY AND EGYPT 757 

Montenegro, and Roumania were acknowledged as independent, 
Bosnia and Herzegovina being made self-governing provinces, 
Russia receiving an indemnity of twelve millions. This excellent 
arrangement was received in England with a shout of indignation, 
which was ignorant and irrational ; war nearly broke out, but it 
was agreed that the treaty should be laid before a congress to 
be summoned at Berlin. There it was settled that 
Bulgaria should be divided into two parts, one of . Berlhf 
which, called Eastern Roumelia, was to remain 
under the control of the Sultan ; Bosnia and Herzegovina became 
practically the property of Austria ; and Servia was made inde- 
pendent, as well as Montenegro. Beaconsfield and Salisbury 
returned to London, saying that they had brought back " peace 
with honour." But the treaty of Berlin meant neither : it 
secured neither the peace of the Balkan peninsula nor the 
proper treatment of the Christians whom it left to the 
Turks. It has since been violated by almost every power 
which signed it. Two wars have followed it, which it should have 
prevented. Its history gives rise to a train of melancholy 
reflections. 

The imperial policy thus inaugurated was carried out in other 
parts of the world. Attempts were made to found what is called 
a scientific frontier in India, by taking in the The N.W. 
Hindu Koosh and its spurs, with such outposts as Frontier of 
might be necessary to secure the passes. This India. 
policy was opposed by all those who were best acquainted with 
India. A similar policy was pursued against the Zulus in 
South Africa. This war, in which the French prince imperial 
met his death, ended with the defeat and captivity of Cete- 
wayo, but brought no honour to the English arms. The war in 
Afghanistan was as disastrous as these enterprises have gene- 
rally been, as a country which is easily overrun is difficult to 
leave. It was illustrated by the brilliant march of Roberts to 
Kandahar, by which that important city was saved, but the 
" forward policy " had to be given up, Kandahar being evacuated 
in 1881. Since then, by the wisdom of five succeeding viceroys 
— Ripon, Dufferin, Lansdowne, Elgin, and Ourzon — the mis- 
takes of Beaconsfield have been remedied, and for many years 
there have been no serioua wars upon the Indian frontier. But 
waters once stirred into commotion are with difficulty quieted, 
and in Egypt Gladstone inherited the results of a policy which 
he had not created, and founded on principles of which he 
disapproved. 



758 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1875 to 

The condition of Egypt was one of great difficulty. It had 

been proposed at the Congress of Berlin that it should be 

The Con- occupied by England, but the liberals were 

dition of reluctant to do this, partly from unwillingness to 

Egypt. increase the national responsibilities, partly from 

regard to France, so that the management of the country was 

left under the joint control of England and France. The French 

republic was not strong enough to carry these arrangements 

out, and a movement for independence took place in Egypt, — 

Arabi, an Egyptian colonel, determining to secure 

theA m- ^ ie se ^"g overnmen 't °f hi ,s country. This might 

have been reasonable had he been able to achieve 

his end, and had it been certain that his enterprise would not end 

in anarchy. On June 11, 1882, a riot took place in Alexandria, 

during which the English, Greek, and French consuls were 

attacked and about 200 people were killed. It was certain that 

Arabi could not control this revolt, and the powers had to 

interfere. France refused to act, and the work was left to 

the English. Alexandria was bombarded by the English fleet, 

a military expedition under Wolseley was sent from England, 

Battle of the battle of Tel-el-Kebir was fought, and Cairo 

Tel-el- was captured. England ought to have undertaken 

Kebir. the duty of controlling Egypt, but Gladstone and 

Granville were afraid of the responsibility, and our position 

remained most unsatisfactory and ill-defined. 

What was to be done with the Soudan and other provinces, 

which were now being attacked by a religious fanatic, the Mahdi ? 

The Gladstone resolved to evacuate them, but it was 

Mahdist necessary to withdraw the Egyptian garrisons 

Outbreak. from the places attacked, especially Khartoum. 

Charles Gordon, who had gained a great name in China, was 

sent to effect this, being told that he could receive no further 

support from England. This, however, was impossible, and 

public opinion demanded that he should be reinforced or at 

least protected from personal violence. Much time was lost 

in deciding by which route Khartoum should be approached, 

but eventually, when the steamers sent down by 

Gordon at Gordon to meet the relieving force returned to 

Khartoum, it was found that it was too late — that 

Khartoum had been taken by the Mahdi, and Gordon killed. 

The news reached England on February 5, and caused an 

outbreak of universal indignation. The queen blamed her 

ministers in an open telegram : a vote of censure was moved 



a.d. 1898] TURKEY AND EGYPT 759 

in both Houses, and lost in the Commons by only fourteen votes. 
No adequate defence could be made, and the Soudan had to 
be given up. All the circumstances connected with the loss 
of Khartoum were most discreditable, and the death of Gordon 
remains an indelible stain on the liberal government of 1880. 

Meanwhile, difficulties were caused by new activity on the 
part of the Irish Nationalists, by dynamite outrages in various 
parts of London, and, above all, by the murder of Lord 
Frederick Cavendish in Phoenix Park on the day on which 
he was admitted as Irish secretary. The prestige of the 
government had been also weakened by giving independence 
to the Boers in the Transvaal, just after they had inflicted a 
serious defeat on the English at Majuba Hill — a wise measure 
which was sure to be misconstrued. In 1884, by the extension 
of the county franchise, the number of voters was increased 
from three millions to five. But the strength of the govern- 
ment was gradually exhaxxsted, and, in 1885, being beaten by 
twelve votes on a trifling question, it resigned. 

The consequent elections produced a majority for the liberals, 
and Gladstone determined to settle the Irish question by intro- 
ducing a measure of Home Rule, establishing a Gladstone 
subordinate government in Dublin, under the and Home 
control of the Imperial Parliament. Many lead- Rule, 
ing liberals now refused to follow Gladstone, and the bill was 
defeated by thirty votes. Gladstone resigned, and was succeeded 
by Salisbury. It was now determined to enforce upon Ireland 
a period of resolute government, the carrying out of which was 
entrusted to Arthur Balfour, who became Irish secretary. In 
spite of his severity, his honesty and straight-forwardness made 
him respected and even beloved by those who were most opposed 
to him. The Parliament of 1886 came to a natural end in 1892, 
and the general election made Gladstone prime minister for the 
fourth time, eager to carry Home Rule but without a majority 
sufficient to pass any important measure without the help of 
the Irish. A Home Rule Bill was carried in the Commons 
in 1893 by 43 votes, but defeated in the Lords by 457 to 41, 
the largest division ever taken in the House. The result of 
this was that Gladstone's last cabinet council was held on 
March 1, 1894, and his last speech in the Commons, delivered 
the same afternoon, was a vigorous attack upon the House of 
Lords. Lord Rosebery succeeded by the queen's wish to the 
post of prime minister, but resigned in 1895, the government 
having been defeated by a majority of 7 on a paltry question. 



760 a GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1875-1898 

Egypt became civilised under British rule. The land was both 
irrigated and drained. In ten years, the cotton and sugar crops 
Egypt under were trebled, and the country was covered by a 
British network of railways and agricultural roads. In 

Rule. 1898, a dam was established at Assuan. The 

native soldiers were well fed and clothed, and trained to be- 
come efficient instruments of war. The army was strengthened 
by the enrolment of black volunteers from the Soudan. This 
progress created a desire to recover the Soudan, which had been 
abandoned, and this was stimulated by the danger of the Italians, 
losing Kassala, which they had occupied at our suggestion, 
and, to some extent, for our convenience. It was therefore 
determined to save Kassala by a diversion in the direction 
of Dongola. There were also other rivals for the possession of 
the territory which we desired. The French were advancing 
Reconquest from the south-west, the Belgians from the south. 
of the So the government determined to advance to 

Soudan. Akasha to avert the danger which threatened 

Italy, Egypt, and Great Britain. This was opposed by the 
liberals in the House of Commons and elsewhere. Kitchener, 
starting on March 21, 1896, completely defeated the Dervishes 
at Firket, and cleared forty miles of the Nile valley. The 
Dervishes received a second severe blow on April 8, 1898, 
in what is known as the battle of the Atbara. Mahmoud was 
taken prisoner, and Kitchener made a triumphal entry into 
Berber. Omdurman, lying opposite Khartoum, could not be 
taken until the Nile had risen sufficiently to make an attack 
possible. However, at last, the battle was won, and the victori- 
ous army was able to take possession of Khartoum. The prisoners 
found there were released — one of them, a German, having been 
kept in chains for eleven years — and large stores of ammunition 
were found in the arsenal. The Mahdi's tomb was destroyed 
as an act of necessary vengeance, and a memorial service was 
held in the remains of Gordon's palace at Khartoum. 

The taking of Khartoum was followed by an incident which 
nearly caused a war between England and France. Lieutenant 
The Marchand had occupied Fashoda and hoisted the 

Fashoda French flag. Kitchener hastened to the spot, 

Incident. told Marchand that his position was impossible, 
landed some troops, and hoisted the Egyptian flag 500 yards from 
the French flag, after which he returned to Cairo. For twenty- 
four hours war between the two countries seemed probable, the 
French holding that Fashoda had been abandoned, and might 



a.d. 1895-1902] SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 761 

be claimed by either France or Belgium, while the British 
asserted that the whole valley of the Nile belonged to Egypt. 
But by the end of the year peaceful counsels prevailed. By 
an agreement signed in January 1899, Great Britain obtained 
sovereign rights in the Soudan, in conjunction with the Khedive, 
based upon the right of conquest, thus avoiding mistakes which 
had produced such disastrous results in Egypt. Consequently, 
the Soudan has advanced greatly in prosperity, the population 
has increased, and Port Soudan on the Red Sea has become a 
serviceable harbour. The White Nile has been rendered 
navigable by the removal of 400 miles of sudd, conglomerated 
water weed ; and a centre of enlightenment for the Soudan 
has been provided by establishing the Gordon University at 
Khartoum. 



THE SOUTH AFKICAN WAR, A.D. 1895-1902. 

The last years of Queen Victoria's reign were saddened by 
troubles in the Transvaal, the economical condition of which 
had been entirely altered by the discovery of gold 
mines. The revenue of the Transvaal, which was z, . 

=£177,876 in 1885, had increased to £4,480,217 in lransvaaL 
1897. Crowds of all nations flocked to this new source of wealth, 
the foreign settlers — Dutch, German, French, and English — 
being known as Uitlanders. Differences naturally arose. The 
Boers were wedded to a country life : the new settlers lived in 
towns for the purpose of making money. The Boers regarded 
the natives as little better than wild animals, whereas the 
English endeavoured to convert and teach them. But the chief 
cause of difference was undoubtedly the gold mines, which had 
made the Transvaal so unexpectedly valuable. The Uitlanders 
put forward grievances which had little foundation, and were 
greatly exaggerated by the English press, though the condition of 
the Transvaal was certainly peculiar, as the number of foreign 
settlers was nearly double that of the Boers, and they paid 
nmeteen-twentieths of the taxes. 

These smouldering embers burst into a blaze when Jameson 
made a raid into the Transvaal on December 29, 1895, with the 
view of joining the Uitlanders in Johannesburg, 
who, it is said, were ready to rise. The insane Jamesons 
enterprise collapsed entirely ; the raiders sur- 
rendered, and might justifiably have been shot, but Kruger mag- 
nanimously surrendered them to the English government. This 



762 A GENERAL HISTORY u.d. 1S95 to 

raid convinced Kruger, president of the Transvaal, that it 
was necessary to arm if he wished to preserve the independence 
of his country. A fort was built, and arms were imported by 
way of DelagoaBay. There was no organised conspiracy against 
British rule, but the idea of a Dutch South Africa came again 
into prominence. 

In February 1897, Sir Alfred Milner was sent out as Governor 
to examine the situation, and, unfortunately, came to the con- 
The South elusion that war was inevitable, believing that 
African it would be short and decisive, but that any 

War - attempt at conciliation would be a mistake. A 

conference held at Bloemfontein came to nothing. The Boers 
issued an ultimatum which expired on October 11, 1899, and the 
British Parliament, meeting a few days later, voted £10,000,000 
for the conduct of the war. The public opinion of Europe was 
strongly opposed to our action. England had hitherto posed as 
the supporter of liberty and the defender of the weak. Germany 
took full advantage of the opportunity. Though preserving a 
neutrality which the Boers always hoped would not continue, 
she set herself to extend her commerce and increase her fleet. 
The Boers invading Natal, the English retired on Ladysmith, 
where eventually 12,000 British troops were shut up. It was 
recognised that the week between December 10 and December 
17, 1899, was the blackest known in that generation, and 
the most disastrous of the century to British arms. In seven 
days the British had lost, in three separate actions, 3000 men 
and 12 guns, causing their enemies to triumph and themselves 
to despair. England now realised the importance of the 
enterprise she had rashly undertaken, and sent her best general, 
Lord Roberts, to take command, with Kitchener as chief of 
the staff. 

After long struggles, the enormous forces at the disposal of 
Roberts began to produce an effect ; Johannesburg was occupied 
on May 31, and Pretoria on June 5. The war became a 
guerilla conflict, in which De Wet played a conspicuous part. 
Farmhouses were destroyed, with everything that they contained, 
and the women and children were collected together in concen- 
tration camps, where they suffered great hardships. Long lines 
of blockhouses were erected, never more than a thousand 
paces' from each other, joined together with barbed wire, and so 
placed that they were visible to each other. Present opinion is 
that the burning of the farmhouses tended rather to prolong 
than to shorten the war, as it created great resentment among 



a.d. 1902] SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 763 

the famishing Boers. Fortunately, orders given to destroy 
many more farmhouses in Cape Colony were disregarded. De 
Wet has expressed the opinion that the blockhouses prolonged 
the war for three months, by enabling the elusive Boers to 
escape their pursuers, and it is certain that they did not repay 
the cost of building them. At the end of January 1902, a drive 
was formed with the object of forcing De Wet against one of 
the two lines of blockhouses, but it was entirely unsuccessful. 

By this time King Edward had succeeded Queen Victoria, and 
it was obvious that a coronation could not be held during the 
continuance of the war, as nations opposed to us would take 
the opportunity of offering insults. It was therefore suggested 
that some informal overtures towards .peace should be made. 
Kruger was now in Europe, so that his place was taken by 
Schalkburger,. vice-president of the Transvaal, while Stein 
represented the Orange Free State. A meeting was held at 
Klerkdorp, on April 9, 1902, Louis Botha and De Wet also 
being present. They declared that unconditional surrender was 
impossible, but that terms for peace might be put forward. 
The final treaty was signed at Vereeniging, the The Treaty- 
negotiations continuing from May 18 to May 29, of Vereeni- 
and, the treaty being signed at Kitchener's house gi n g- 
in Pretoria on May 31, the war came to an end, having cost 
this country =£270,000,000. A constitution for South Africa 
was ratified by act of Parliament in September 1909. By this 
instrument, a governor-general is appointed by the crown, and 
there is a Parliament of two houses, the members of which 
must be British subjects of European descent. Lord Gladstone, 
the son of the great minister whose life occupied so many 
pages of English history, was appropriately appointed to be 
first governor-general. 

A war between China and Japan, of which we are not able 
to give a detailed account, was closed by the treaty of Shimon- 
oseki, signed in the spring of 1895. The success 
of Japan in this war was entirelv unexpected t: ise 
by those who knew the belligerent countries best, 
but it led to a still more unexpected result — a war between 
Japan and Russia. This was declared on February 5, 1904. 
A small Asiatic power, only a short time ago a stranger to 
European affairs, challenged a colossus, of whose The Russo- 
encroachments all the world was afraid, who had Japanese 
her feet in the east and west, and seemed to War - 
bestride the habitable globe. Japan, however, had well calculated 



764 A GENERAL HISTORY [a.d. 1895 to 

the task which lay before her, and deserved the success which 
she achieved. We must content ourselves with a short 
account of this momentous struggle, which has produced 
important results and may produce more. The first object 
of the Japanese was to capture Port Arthur, which was 
effected on January 1, 1905. After this the interest of the 
war centred round Mukden. The Japanese had five armies, 
numbering altogether about 300,000 men, concentrated within 
striking distance of the enemy. Mukden was defended by 
Kuropatkin, who was finally obliged to execute a disorderly 
retreat. 

A notable incident in the war was the entire failure of the 
Russian fleet, especially that part of it commanded by Rozhdesht- 
vensky, whose operations began by firing at English trawlers on 
the Dogger Bank, imagining that some of them were Japanese. 
He stopped a long time at Madagascar to train his crews, and 
got his squadron together in the China Sea on May 9. He had 
eight battleships, twelve cruisers, nine destroyers, and a number 
of auxiliary ships, but he was entirely defeated by Admiral 
Togo in the battle of Tushima. In less than three-quarters 
of an hour from the beginning of the engagement, the battle- 
ships of the two main Russian columns were out of action, and 
the admiral himself was severely wounded. On the following 
day, the Russian fleet was annihilated, and only four ships out 
of the whole armada reached Vladivostok. Peace was made by 
the mediation of Rooseveldt, president of the United States, 
and the treaty of Portsmouth gave to Japan most of the objects 
for which she had begun the war. The victory of Japan was 
a great surprise to the world, but also a great lesson. She 
owed her success to the patriotic devotion with which states- 
men, diplomats, soldiers, and sailors had worked harmoniously 
together to achieve a common result, whereas the Russians 
had been inspired by no enthusiasm, nor did their leaders possess 
unity, either of purpose or action. By the system of Bushido 
the Japanese were trained to prefer the interest of the state 
to that of the individual, and to consider death preferable 
to dishonour. 

We must hurry to the end of our period. Mr. Gladstone 
died on May 19, 1898, and was buried on May 28 in West- 
minster Abbey. A more impressive sight was never seen in a 
church which has witnessed so many solemn spectacles. Both 
Houses of Parliament marched in procession from Westminster 
Hall to the Abbey, and the majestic appearance of the Speaker 



a.d. 1902] DEATH OF EDWARD VII 765 

at the head of the Commons will never be forgotten. Gladstone's 
death was followed by Sir William Har court's resignation of 
the leadership of the liberal party in the House of Commons. 
He was succeeded by Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman, whose 
abilities were only surpassed by his modesty. He died in 1908. 
He was not actually buried in Westminster Abbey, but the 
memorial service held there in his honour was as impressive as 
any funeral. Queen Victoria died on Friday, January 22, 1901, 
being eighty-one years of age, and having reigned for sixty-three 
years seven months and two days. Her death produced an inde- 
scribable effect all over the world, especially perhaps in India, 
where she was regarded not only as a sovereign, but almost as 
an object of worship. No one who witnessed it will ever forget 
the passage of the queen's coffin across London, from Padding- 
ton to Victoria, attended by her son and grandson, the new 
King and the German Emperor. 

King Edward was now advanced in years, and nearly forty 
years had passed since his father's death, but during that time 
he had been, by a fault of judgment on his 
mother's part, carefully excluded from every share r V 1 ^ , VTT 
in the government. At the coronation, Lord Salis- 
bury could not be present as prime minister, and his place was 
taken by his nephew, Arthur Balfour. Indeed, the death of Lord 
Salisbury on August 22, 1903, shows that his resignation could not 
have been much longer delayed. King Edward is generally known 
as the " Peace Maker," because he followed a policy of coming 
to a friendly understanding with other nations between whom 
disputes were pending which might, under certain circum- 
stances, bring about a war. The consequence was that during 
his reign personal dislike of Great Britain gradually faded 
away. It was interesting to see him, when visiting a foreign 
bath, welcomed with enthusiasm by Russians, French, Austrians, 
and, above all, Germans, those thronging to do him honour who 
had been most embittered against England and against him 
personally during the Boer War. Asquith now became prime 
minister, and Lloyd-George chancellor of the exchequer. The 
step of making the veto of the House of Lords suspensive 
instead of absolute, which had been passionately urged by 
Gladstone and Rosebery, and had been promised by Campbell- 
Bannerman, was being brought to a practical settlement by 
the king and the prime minister when, at the very moment of 
this crisis, King Edward died, after a short illness, on Friday, 
May 6, 1910. 



-INDEX OF PERSONS 



Aaron, 51 

Abbasids, the, 280, 281 
Abbio, 287 
Abdallah, 281 

— father of Mohammed, 274 
Abdel Mumin, 402 
Abderahman, of Cordova, 28! v 400 

— of Seville, 304 
Abdvd Malek, 279 
Abercromby, General, 675 
Aberdeen, earl of, 724 
Abeshu, 30 

Abgarus of Edessa, 230 

Abijah, king of Judah, 58 

Ablizzi, the, 488 

Abraham, 50 

Abu Bekr, 275-277 

Abu Djal, 275 

Abulkasern, 33 

Abu Taleb, 275 

Acca Laurentia, 132 

Accursi, Francesco, 429 

Achmed III., sultan, 618, 619 

Achtoi, 12 

Adalbero, bishop of Augsburg, 299 

— archbishop of Reims, 335 
Adalbert, king of Italy, 327 
Adalbert, St., of Prague, 338, 339 
Adalgis, 285, 286 

Addington, Henry (Viscount Sidmouth), 675, 

678 
Adela of Blois, 408 
Adelheid, wife of Louis the Stammerer, 297 

— wife of Otto I., 327, 329, 333, 335, 336 
Adhemar of Puy, 346 

Adherbal, 187, 188 
Adimari, the, 488 
Adolf of Nassau, emperor, 445 
Adorno family, 487 
Aegidius of Soissons, 261 
Aelfred the Great, 305-308 

— [the Atheling], 313 

Aelfrida, mother of Aethelred II., 310 
Aemilianus, Roman emperor, 233 
Aeschines, 126, 128 
Aeschylus, 70, 95, 97 
Aethelbald, king of Wessex, 306 
Aethelbert, king of Kent, 271 

— king of Wessex, 306 
Aethelgiva, wife of Edwy, 309 
Aethelred I., king of Wessex, 306 

— II., the Unready, 310-313, 397 
Aethelstan, king of England, 301, 308, 309 

— king of Kent, 305 



Aethelwold, nephew of Aelfred the Great, 308 

Aethelwulf, king of Wessex, 305, 306 

Aetius, 252-255 

Afranius, L., 200 

Agathocles, king of Sicily, 157 

— son of Lysimachus, 176 

Agesilaus II., king of Sparta, 109, 110, 112, 

115-117, 119, 120 
Agilulf, king of Lombards, 263 
Agis IV., king of Sparta, 176 
Agnes of Meran, 439 

— of Poitou, wife of Henry III., emperor, 
341 

— daughter of Ottokar of Bohemia, 446 
Agricola, Gn. Julius, 223 

— Johann, 523 

Agrippa, M. Vipsanius, 212, 215, 227 

— (Posturnus), 215 

Agrippina I., wife of Germanicus, 215, 218, 
219 

— II., wife of Claudius, 220, 221 
Ahab, king of Israel, 58-61 
Ahaz, king of Judah, 64 
Ahaziah, king of Israel, 61 

— king of Judah, 61, 62 
Ahenobarbus, Gn. Domitius, 221 

— L. Domitius, 200 
Ahijah, 56 

Aiguillon, Armand, duke of, 649 

d'Ailly, Francois, 476 

Aistulf, king of the Lombards, 273 

Aladdin, sultan of Iconium, 494 

Alan of Brittany, 298 

Alaric, king of the Visigoths, 249-251 

Alba, Fernando, third duke of, 522, 536, 537, 

541, 542 
Albergati, Niccolo, 480 
Alberic I., patrician of Pome, 302 

— II., 302, 327, 330 

— of RomaTio, 377, 385 
Alberoni, Cardinal, 623 

Albert I., emperor, 444-446, 448, 492 

— II., emperor (V. of Austria), 481 

— count of Hapsburg, 375 

— II., duke of Austria, 450, 471 

— III., duke of Austria, 471 

— archduke of Austria, 746 

— cardinal archduke, 538 

— the Bear, 347, 348, 359 

— of Brandenburg, 516 

— of Saxe-Coburg-Gotlia, prince consort, 
734 

— of Saxony (duke of Meissen), 508, 509 

— Jeanne de, queen ofNavarre, 540, 542 



767 



768 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Albinus, Clodius, 229 

Albinzi, General, 660 

Albizzi family, 500 

Alboin, king of the Lombards, 263 

Albomoz, Cardinal, 483. 484 

Alcibiades, 106-108 

Alcmaeonid family, 84, 85 

Alcuin, 286, 290 

Aleander, Cardinal, 518 

Alembert, J. B. le R. de, 628 

Alexander of Macedon, I., 121 

— — II., 118, 122 

— — the Great, 122, 124, 165-175 

— son of Alexander the Great, 174, 175 

— of Pherae, 118, 119, 125 

— (pope) III., 356, 357, 365, 402 

— — IV., 384, 386, 427 

— — V., 474, 476, 484 

— — VI, 510, 513 

— czar of Russia, 675, 681, 682, 685. 686, 
691, 693, 694, 697, 706 

— bishop of Lincoln, 409 

— Nevski, 493 
Alexis III., emperor, 363 

— IV., emperor, 363 

— czar of Russia, 614 

— son of Peter the Great, 621 
Alexius Comnenus, emperor, 317, 346 
Alfonso, king of Aragon, I., 402 

— — — V., 467 

— king of Castile, VI., 400, 401 

— — — VII., 402 

— — — X., 388, 389, 392, 443 

— — — XL, 404 

— IV., king of Portugal, 467 
Ali, son of Abu Taleb, 275-278 
Al Kamil, 370-372 

Allemand, Louis de, bishop of Aries, 480 
Allen, Cardinal, 553 
Almanzor, caliph, 402 

- — James, 402 
Almoravids, the, 401, 402 
Almuazzam, 369 
Alpais, 299 

Alphonse of Poitou, 440 
Althorp, viscount, 711 
Alva, duke of. See Alba 
Alyattes, king of Lydia, 80 
Amadeus, duke of Savoy. See Savoy 
Amalasunta, 257-259 
Amanrich, 246, 248 
Amasis, 44, 80 
Amaziah, king of Judah, 63 
Ambrose, St., 248, 249 
Amenemhet, king of Egypt: I., 12, 13; 

III., 13-15; IV., 15 
Amenophis III., king of Egypt, 39 

— IV., king of Egypt, 39, 40 
Amos, 62, 63 

Amru, 277, 278 

Amulius, king of Alba, 132 

Amyntas I., king of Macedon, 76, 121 

— III., king of Macedon, 112, 122 

— son of Perdiccas, 122 
Anacletus II., anti-pope, 318 
Anacreon, 82 

Analav, Danish king at York, 309 
Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, 97, 105 
Anaximander, 82 



d'Ancre, Marshal, 573 

Ancus Martius, 132, 133 

Anderson (Eoger), Major, 732 

Andocides, 110 

Andrew II., king of Hungary, 367, 491 

— III., king of Hungary, 445, 492 

— of Hungary, husband of Joanna I., 482, 
484 

Androcleides, 113 

Andronicus, emperor, II., 494 ; III., 494 ; 

IV., 495, 496 
Angouleme, Louis Antoine, due de, 706 
Angus, Archibald Douglas, earl of, 548 
Anhalt, Bernhard of, 359 

— Prince Christian I. of, 559 
Anjou, Francis, duke of, 537, 538, 543 
Ann, wife of Henry of Carinthia, 446 
Anna, czarina of Russia, 621 

— wife of Rudolf of Hapsburg, 444 

— of Savoy, wife of Andronicus III., 495 
Anne, queen of England, 565, 603, 605-607. 

610-613, 619 

— of Austria, wife of Louis XIII., 573-577 

— of Bohemia, wife of Richard II., 456 

— Boleyn, wife of Henry VIIL, 528-530. 
532 

— of Brittany, 465, 507, 510 

— of Brunswick, regent of Russia, 621 

— of Cleves, wife of Henry VIIL, 530 
Anno. See Hanno 

Anselm, St., 405, 407 

Ansgard, wife of Louis the Stammerer, 296 

Anson, George, first viscount, 626 

Antalcidas, 110 ; peace of, 110-11 

Antef, 12 

Anthemius, 253 

Antigonus, 174, 175 

— Doson, 177 

— Gonotas, 176 
Antinous, 227 

Antiochus I. (Soter), king of Syria, 178 

— II. (Theos), king of Syria, 178 

— III. (the Great), king of Syria, 178, 182, 
183 

— IV (Epiphanes), king of Syria, 184 

— Hierax, 178 
Antipater, 127, 166, 174, 175 

Antoin of Bourbon, king of Navarre, 539- 

541 
Antonia of Bourbon-Vendome, 539 
Antoninus Pius, Roman emperor, 225, 227, 

228, 234 
Antoninus, G. (Hybrida), 196 

— Lucius, 212 

— Marcus, Triumvir, 199, 202, 210-213 
Apokaukos, 495 

Aprakin. See Apraxin 

Apraxin, Stephen, 638 

Apries (Hophra), king of Egypt, 44, 67, 68 

Aquaviva, Cardinal, 434 

Aquinas, St. Thomas, 392 

Arabi, Ahmad, Pasha, 758 

Aratus of Sicyon, 176, 177 

Arbogast, 248 

Arcadius, emperor, 249, 252, 253 

Archelaos, of Macedon, 122 

Archelaus, general of Mithradates, 192 

Archias of Thebes, 113, 114 

Archidamus II., king of Sparta, 106 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



769 



Archidamus III., king of Sparta, 124 
Archimedes, 162 
Ardscher. See Artaxerxes 
Aretino, L. Bruni, 476 
Argyle, ninth earl of, 599 
Argyros, 316 

Ariarathes of Cappadocia, 179 
Aribo, archbishop of Mainz, 341 
Aricliis of Beneventum, 287 
Ariobarzanes, Persian general, 169 
Ariovistus, German chief, 199 
Aristides " the Just " 88, 92, 94, 95 
Aristogiton, Pisastratid, 82, 83, 169 
Aristogoras of Miletus, 75, 84, 85 
Arius, heretic, 246, 249 
Arkwright, Richard, 645 
Arlington, earl of, 595, 597 
Arminius, German chief, 214, 218 
Arnold of Brescia, 351-353 
Arnold, archbishop of Cologne, 350 
Arnulf, emperor, 297, 300, 305, 307 

— bishop of Metz, 283, 287 
Arpad, king of Hungary, 300 
Arrian, 227 

Artabanos, 100 

Artaphernes, brother of Darius Hystaspea, 84 

— nephew of Darius Hystaspes, 86 
Artavasdes, king of Armenia, 212 
Artaxerxes I., king of Persia, 74, 96, 100, 102, 

103, 108, 109, 111, 119, 120 

— III., king of Persia, 172 

— (Ardscher), founder of the Sassinidae, 232 
Artemidorus, 202 

Arteveld, James von, 435 
Arthur of Brittany, 415, 417, 419 
Arthur Tudor, son of Henry VII., 528 
Artrad of Thuringia, 287 
Arundel, Archbishop, 457, 460 

— earl of, 456, 457 
Aryandes, 75 

Asa, king of Judah, 57, 58 

Asinibaldi, Theobald, 388 

Aspasia, 105 

Asquith, H. H., 765 

Assur Nazir Habul, 46, 47 

Astyages, 69, 75, 80 

Asurbanipal, 49 

Ataulf, king of the Visigoths, 251 

Athalaric, king of the Ostrogoths, 258 

Athaliah, queen of Judah, 59 

Athanaric the Goth, 248 

Athanasius, St., 246 

Athenais. See Eudoxia 

Atossa, 71, 76 

Atoti, 5 

Attalus I., king of Pergamum, 179 

— III., king of Pergamum, 185 
Atterbury, bishop of Rochester, 624 
Attila, king of the Huns, 254, 255 
Augereau, Marshal, 680 
Augustenburg, Frederick, duke of, 743, 744 
Augustine, St., of Canterbury, 271 

— St., of Hippo, 252 

Augustus (Octavian), emperor, 202, 204-217 
Augustus II. (the Strong), king of Poland, 

616, 617, 619, 620, 630 
Aurelian, emperor, 233, 234 
Aurungzebe, 636 
Ausonius, 246 



Austria, duke of. See Albert, Charles 

Frederic, Otto 
Autharis, king of the Lombards, 263 
Avitus, emperor, 255 
Ayesha, wife of Mohammed, 276, 278 
d'Azeglio, Marquis, 727 
Azzo of Este, 377, 378 



Babington, Anthony, 552 
Bacchylides, 97 
Bacciochi, Felix, 680 
Bacon, Francis, 466 
Baden (Charles F. T.), duke of, 679 
■ — (Louis), margrave of, 373 
Baesha, 57, 58 
Bajezid I., sultan, 495, 496 
Baldwin I., king of Jerusalem, 345-7 

— II., king of Jerusalem, 347 

— Latin emperor, 362-3 

— See Flanders, Baldwin, count of 
Balfour, A. J., 759, 765 

Ballard, John, 552 
Balliol, Edward, 434, 435 

— John, king of Scotland, 430 
Banks, N. P., 739 

Barbara of Cilly, wife of Sigismund, 475, 

476, 480 
Barbarossa, Hairaddin, 520 
Barbaroux, C. J. M., 652 
Barbes, Armand, 715 
Barclay de Tolly, Prince, 694 
Bardi, the, 398 
Barebones, Praise-God, 580 
Barnave, Antoine, P. J. M., 652 
Barras, Paul, F. J. N. de, 656 
Barrere, Bertrand, 656 
Barrot, C. H. Odilon, 708 
Barrow, Henry, 535 
Basina, 261 

Basinus, king of the Thuringians, 261 
Basset, Sir Philip, 425 
Basseville, N. J. H. de, 660 
Bassianus. See Elagabalus 
Bathurst, third earl, 701 
Bavaria, dukes of — 

Arnulf, 322 

Henry I., 321, 323, 327, 328 

— II., the Quarrelsome, 332, 335 

— the Proud, 347 

— the Lion, 348, 352, 353, 358, 359, 362 

— (Wittelsbach), 389 

— Louis, 373, 390, 443 
Otto, I. 359 

— II., (the Illustrious), 373, 374, 377 

— electors of : 

— — Charles Albert. See Charles VII., 
emperor 

— — Charles Theodore, 633 

— — Maximilian I., 557, 561 

— — — II., (Emanuel), 590, 601-3, 606 

— — — III. (Joseph), 629, 633 

— Joseph, electoral prince of, 601, 610 
Bayard, Chevalier, 519 

Bazaine, Marshal, 750, 752 

Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli, earl of, 

755-7 
Beatrice of Falkenstein, wife of Richard of 

Cornwall, 389 

3c 



770 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Beatrice, of Provence, wife of Charles of 
Anjou, 386, 388 

— Turin, wife of Henry IV., emperor, 342 

— wife of Otto IV., 363 

— daughter of Manfred, 390 

— — Henry VII., emperor, 447, 448 
Beaufort, Francois, duke of, 576 

— Henry, Cardinal, 460 

— Margaret, 464 
Beauharnais, Eugene, 680, 688, 693 

— See Hortense and Josephine 
Beaulieu, Baron P. J. de, 660 
Beauregard, P. G. Toutart, 733, 735 
Becket, Thomas a, 410-14 

Bedford, John, duke of : First, 461, 462 ; 

fourth, 638 
Bela III., king of Hungary, 491 

— IV., king of Hungary, 378, 491, 492 

— brother-in-law of Ottokar, 389 
Belesme, Bobert of, 406 
Belisarius, 259, 260 

Bella, Giano della, 487 

Belshazzer (Nabonetus), 76 

Bern, Joseph, 721 

Benedek, F.-M. Ludwig von, 746 

Benedetti, Count Vincent, 748, 749 

Benedict (pope) : V. (anti-pope), 330 ; VII., 

333, 334 ; VIII., 315, 341 ; XI., 441 ; XIII. 

(anti-pope), 475-7 ; (pope), 459 

— of Nursia, St., 271 
Benhadad, 57, 58, 60, 61 
Berengar of Friuli, emperor, 298, 299 

— Ivrea, 327-30 
Berengaria, wife of Richard I., 417 
Beresford, Viscount, 696 

Bernadotte, Marshal (Charles XIV., king of 

Sweden), 659, 664, 680, 683, 694, 697 
Bernard, St., 348 

— archbishop of Sahagun, 401 
Bernhard, king of Italy, 293 

— son of Charles the Fat, 297, 299 
■ — of Barcelona, 294 

— Cardinal, 483 

Bernward, bishop of Hildesheim, 336, 339 
Berry, C. F. d'Artois, due de, 705, 708 
Bertha, queen of Kent, 271 
• — of Burgundy, 327 

— of Savoy, wife of Henry IV., emperor, 
485 

— wife of Pepin the Short, 284 
Berthier, Marshal, 672, 673, 679, 680, 683, 700 
Berthold, archbishop of Mainz, 512 

— (V.) of Zahringen, 472 
Bertrand de Born, 418 
Bessarion, Cardinal, 497 
Bessieres, Marshal, 680 
Bessos, 169, 170 

Bestia, L. Calpurnius, 188 
Bethlen Gabor, 558-60 
Beza, Theodore, 525, 540, 541 
Bias of Priene, 80 
Bibulus, L. Calpurnius, 141 
Bigod, Hugh, 408, 414 

— Boger II., earl of Norfolk, 431 
Billaud-Varennes, J. N., 653 
Binnirar II., king of Assyria, 47 
Biren, J. E., regent of Russia, 621 
Bismarck-Schonhausen, Otto, Prince von, 

742-5, 748,'.749, 751, 754 



Bjorn, king of Sweden, 303 

— Ironside, 303, 304 

Blake, Joachim, Spanish general, 690 

— Bobert, admiral, 579, 581 
Blanche of Artois, 432 

— Bourbon, wife of Pedro the Cruel, 451, 
467 

— Castile, mother of Louis IX., 395, 419, 
422 

— Valois, wife of Charles IV., emperor, 4G9 
Bleda, king of the Huns, 251 

Blucher, Field-Marshal, 694-7, 700 

Boccanera, Simon, doge of Venice, 486 

Bocchus, 189 

Boemund of Antioch, 317, 346, 347 

Boethius, 257 

Bokchoris, 43 

Boleslav I., of Bohemia, 326 

— II., of Bohemia, 326, 339 

— duke of Poland, 340 

Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Viscount, 605, 

606, 611, 613, 622, 624 
Bomilcar, 161 
Bonaparte : Caroline, 682, 683, 690 ; Elisa, 

680 ; Jerome, 686 ; Joseph, 658, 664, 674, 

682, 683, 688-90, 697; Louis, 677, 682, 

683, 693 ; Lucien, 664, 665, 672 ; Na- 
poleon (see Napoleon) ; Pauline, 683, 698 

Boniface, Count, 252 

— St., 272, 273, 283 

— Pope : VI., 300, 333 ; VII., 333 ; VIII., 
394, 395, 430, 431, 441, 445 : IX., 475, 476. 
484 

— of Savoy, 425 

Bonner, bishop of London, 533 
Booth, J. W., 741 
Bordeaux, H. C. P., due de, 708 
Borromeo, St. Charles, 534, 535 
Boso, king of Provence, 296, 297 
Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, 591 
Botha, Louis, 763 

Bothwell, James, fourth earl of, 548, 549 
Boucicault, Marshal, 452, 487 
Bouillon, Henri, due de, 574 
Bourbaki, C. L>. S., general, 752, 753 
Bourbon, Charles, duke of (Constable), 519, 
520 

— Louis Henry II., duke of, 678, 679 

— family, 539 

Bourchier, Elizabeth, wife of Oliver Crom- 
well, 578 

Bourrienne. L. A. F. de, 673 

Brabant, duke of. 366 

Braddock, Edward, 637 

Bradshawe, John, 582 

Bragg, Braxton, 738 

Branealeone, degli Andalo, 384 

Brandenburg, Albert of. See Albert 
■ — electors of : 
Frederic I. (VI. of Nuremburg), 474 
Frederic William (the Great Elector), 587- 

589, 627 
Joachim II., 522 
John Sigismund, 626 
Louis, margrave of, 450, 470 

Brasidas, 106 

Breakspear, Nicholas. See Hadrian IV. 

Breaute\ Fulk de, 424 

Brettone, 483 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



771 



Briant, Alexander, 551 

Brienne, Walter of, duke of Athens, 488. 

— See John of Brienne 
Brigit, St., 475 

Brissot de Warville, J. P., 652, 654 

Britannicus, son of Claudius, 220, 221 

Brito, Richard, 412 

Brogni, J. A., 476 

Brougham and Vaux, Lord, 711 

Brown, John, 732 

Browne, Count M. U. von, 630 

Bruce, Edward, 433 

— Robert, the claimant, 430 

— See David and Robert, kings of Scotland 
Brueys, Admiral, 664 

Briinl, Count, 630 

Brune, Marshal, 680 

Brunhilde, 264 

Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, 321, 329 

— of Carinthia, See Gregory V. 
Brunswick, dukes of — 

Charles William Ferdinand, 630, 631, 654, 

684 
Christian, 560 
Otto, 482, 484 

— of Limeburg, 375 

Brutus, Decimus Junius Albinus, 210 

— L. Junius, 134 

— M. Junius, 202, 211 
Bryant (Briant), Alexander, 551 
Buchanan, James, American president, 732 
Buckingham, dukes of : George Villiers (I.), 

566-8; (II.) 595, 597; Henry Stafford, 

463, 464 
Buell, Don Carlos, 735 
Billow, Friedrich Wilhelm, 696, 697 
Buol, Count K. F. von, 727 
Buontelmonte, the, 488 
Burchhard of Swabia, 328 
Burgundy, dukes of — 

Charles the Bold, 505-7, 510 

John the Fearless, 459, 460 

Louis, 604, 607 

Philip de Rouvres, 452 

— the Bold, 452, 453, 505 

— the Good, 505 

Rudolf. See Rudolf of Burgundy 
Burke, Edmund, 639, 642-4, 666, 678 
Burleigh. William Cecil, Lord, 546, 551-3 
Burnell, Robert, 429 
Burnside, A. E., 736 
Burrard, Sir Henry, 690 
Burrus, Afranius, 221 
Bute, John Stuart, third earl of, 637, 638 
Butler, Colonel Walter, 563 

— William Orlando, 739 
Byng, Admiral, 637 
Byron, Lord, 706 

Cabeirichos, 114 
Cabrera, Bernardo de, 467 
Cade, Jack, 462 
Cadoudal, Georges, 678, 679 
Caepio, Gn. Servilius, 190 

— Q. Servilius, 185 

Caesar, G. Julius, 141, 148, 194, 196-204, 
208, 210. 216, 217 

— L. Julius, 191 
Cajetan, Cardinal, 518 



Callias, 103 ; peace of, 103-4 
Callicratides, 107 
Calonne, C. A. de, 648 
Calpurnia, v, ife of Caesar, 202 
Calvin, John, 516, 517, 525, 526 
Cambaceres, J. J. R. de, 665, 666, 672 
Cambridge, Edmund of. See York 

— Richard, earl of, 460, 461 
Cambyses, 45, 69, 71, 73, 74, 76, 80, 82 
Camillus, M. Furius, 149, 150 
Campbell, Sir Colin, 724, 726 
Campbell-Bannerman, Sir H., 765 
Campeggio, Cardinal, 528 
Campion, Edmund, 551, 552 

Canning, George, 675, 687, 692, 706, 707, 
719, 711 

— Sir Stratford, 723 
Canrobert, Marshal, 723 

Canute, king of England, 311-3, 341 
Caorsini, the, 397 
Capranica, Domenico, 480 
Caprara, Cardinal, 676, 677, 682 
Caraealla, emperor, 230 
Carascosa, Michele, 705 
Carbos, Cn. Papirius, 189 

— G. Papirius, 191 
Carinus, M. Aurelius, 234 

Carloman, son of Pepin the Short, 273, 283, 
284 

— See Karlmann 

Carlstadt, Andrew Bodenstein of, 518 
Carmagnole, Francesco de, 479, 485, 490 
Carmarthen, Marquis of (fifth Duke of Leeds) 

645, 646 
Carnot, L. N. M., 656, 672, 673, 703 
Carobert, king of Hungary, 445, 448, 482, 

492 
Caroline, wife of George II., 625 

— wife of George IV., 702, 710 
Carrara, Francis of, 473 
Carrier, J. B., 657 

Carteret. See Granville 
Cartwright, Edmund, 645 

— Thomas, 550 

Carus, Roman emperor, 234 
Casca, P. Servilius, 202 
Casimir III., king of Poland, 493 
Cassander, 175 
Cassiodorus, 256 

Cassius (Longinus), C, 199, 202, 211 
Castafios, F. X. de, 690 
Castlereagh, Viscount (marquis of London- 
derry), 687, 692, 696, 698, 699, 704, 710 
Castriota, George (Skanderbeg), 497, 498 
Castro, Liez de, 467 
Castruccio Castracani, 449 
Cathelineau, Jacques, 656 
Catherine of Castile, mother of John II., 367 

— queen of England, wife of Henry V., 460 

— — — wife of Henry VIII. (C. of 
Aragon), 466, 516, 527-9, 532 ; C. Howard, 
530 ; C. Parr, 530 

— — — C. of Braganza, wife of Charles 
II. 

— Morosini, queen of Hungary, 492 

— of Russia, wife of Peter the Great, 619 
— ■ I., czarina, 621 

— H., czarina, 618, 631-4 

— daughter of Charles IV, emperor, 470 



772 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Catherine of Siena, St., 484 
Catiline, L. Sergius, 196, 197 
Catinat, Marshal, 586, 593, 602 
Cato, M. Porcius (Censor), 182, 185 

— — (Uticensis), 197, 200 
Catualda, 218 

Catulus, C. Lutatius. 158 

— Q. Lutatius, 190 
Caulaincourt, A. A. L. de, 679 
Cavaignac, Louis Eugene, 715, 716, 718 
Cavaleanti, the, 488 

Cavendish, Lord Frederick, 759 

Cavour, Carnillo, Count di, 726, 727, 730 

Cawdor, first baron, 668 

Cscil. See Burleigh and Salisbury 

Cellini, Benevenuto, 521 

Cerchii, the, 487 

Cervantes, 480 

Cesarini, Cardinal, 480 

Cetewayo, Zulu king, 757 

Cethegus, C. Cornelius, 196 

Chabrias, 110, 115, 123 

Chalais, Comte de, 574 

Championnet, J. E., 659 

Changarnier, N. A. T., 718 

Chares, 125 

Charetts, P. A., 656 

Charles : 

Emperors— I. (the Great), 264, 273, 274, 
283-93, 304, 321, 338-40 

II. (the Bald), 294, 296, 305, 306 

III. (the Fat), 295, 297, 298, 305 
IV., 450, 469-72, 474 

V., 466, 499, 503, 512, 515, 516, 518-25, 
527, 528, 532, 535 

VI. (III. of Spain), 603-606, 610, 625, 
626 

VII. (Albert), 628, 629 
Kings of England — 

I., 565-72, 574, 576, 578, 587, 600 

II., 579, 583, 593-8, 611 
Kings of Prance — 

(the Simple), 297, 299, 301, 308, 309 

IV., 433, 441, 442, 449 

V., 452, 453, 471, 484 

VI., 459, 461, 485, 496 

VII., 462 

VIII., 465, 499-507, 510, 511 

IX., 540 

X., 600, 647, 678, 679, 705, 707, 708 
King of Lothringia, 293 
Kings of Navarre — 

II. (the Bad), 451-3, 467 
III., 467 

Kings of Sicily and Naples — 

I. (Charles of Anjou), 373, 384, 386-8, 
390-5, 428, 440, 492 

II., 393-5 
Kings of Spain — 

I. {see V., emperor) 

II., 586, 601 

III. (Don Carlos), 624, 625, 630 
IV., 687-9 

Kings of Sweden — 
X., 614 
XL, 614 

XII., 614-20, 623 
XIV. See Bernadotte 

— 60n of Charles the Great, 292 



Charles, archduke of Austria, 662, 691 

— of Blois, 436 

— of Calabria, 448, 488 

— of Durazzo (I.), 482, 484 ; (II.) 484 

— d'Espagne, 451 

— of France, duke of Berri, Normandy, or 
Guienne, 506 

— of Valois, 394, 395, 435, 442 

— Albert, king of Sardinia, 705, 713 

— Emmanuel (IV.), king of Sardinia, 662 

— Louis, elector palatine, 564, 588 

— Martel, mayor of the palace, 272, 287 

— — of Naples, 445, 492 

— — — son of Joanna I., 482 
Charlotte, Princess, 708 

Charon of Thebes, 113, 114 

Chasse, General, 708 

Chatham, John Pitt, second earl, 692 

— William Pitt, first earl, 624, 625, 62S 
630, 631, 635-40, 642, 644 

Chatillon family, 539 

Chauvelin, Marquis de, 667 

Chefru, 7, 8 

Ghent, 5 

Cheops, 7, 10, 13 

Chesterfield, fourth earl of, 621 

Chian, 16 

Childebert, king of the Franks (I. and II.), 

264 
Childeric, father of Clovis, 261 

— II., 272 

Chilperic I., king of the Franks, 264 

Chlodio, 261 

Chlodomer, king of the Franks, 264 

Chlodwig. See Clovis 

Chlopicki, Joseph, 708 

Chlothar, king of the Franks (I. and II.), 264 

Chosroes I., king of Persia, 259 

— II., 274 

Christian III., king of Denmark 516 

— rV., 560, 561 

— V., 616 

— IX., 743 

Christina, queen of Sweden, 562, 614 

Chrysoloras, Manuel, 476 

Cibo, Franceschetto, 502 

Cicero, M. Tullius, 196-7, 200, 203, 210, 211 

Cid, the, 401 

Cimber, L. Tillius, 202 

Cimon, son of Miltiades, 94-9, 102, 103 

Cinna, L. Cornelius, 192, 196 

Cinq Mars, Marquis of, 574 

Civilis, Claudius, 222 

Clairfait, 659 

Clarence, George, duke of, 463, 464 

— Lionel, 457 

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, earl of, 594, 595 
Claudius Appius (Caecus), 153 

— — (Caudex), 158 

— — (Pulcher), 187 

— I., Roman emperor, 208, 219-21 

— II., Roman emperor, 233 
Claypole, Lady, 582 
Clearchus, 109 
Cleisthenes, 82-4 

Clement (pope) III., 364 ; IV., 373, 379, 387, 
389-92, 427 ; V., 441, 449 ; VI., 450, 482, 
483 ; VII. (anti-pope), 454, 469, 470, 475 ; 
VII. (pope), 503. 519, 520 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



773 



Clement, James, 544 

Clementina, daughter of Rudolf I., emperor, 

444 
Clementine, wife of Louis X., 442 
Cleombrotus, regent of Sparta, 90, 92 

— I., king of Spaita, 115, 116 
Cleomenes II., king of Sparta, 177 
Cleon, 106 

Cleopatra, 168, 200, 211-3 
Clerfay, Comte de. See Clairfait 
Clermont-Tonnerre, Count, 649 
Clifford, Lord, 433 

— of Chudleigh, first lord, 595-7 
Clitus, 106, 170 

Clive, Robert, Lord, 636, 637 
Clodius (P.), Pulcher, 197-9 
Clothikle, wife of Clovis, 262 
Clovis, king of the Franks, 261-3, 265, 279 
Cnut. See Canute 
Cobbett, William, 709 

Coburg (Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld), Prince Fred- 
eric Josias of, 659 
Coelestine III. (pope), 364 

— V. (pope), 394 
Coke, Sir Edward, 567 
Colbert, J. B., 585 

Coligny, Gaspard de, Admiral, 539, 541, 542 
Colonna, family the, 394 

— John, Cardinal, 378 

— Stephen, 483 
Columba, St., 271 
Commines, Philip de, 505 
Commodus, Roman emperor, 228, 229 
Comyn, John, the Red, 431, 432 
Concini. See. d'Ancre, Marshal 
Conde, Prince of, Henry II., 573, 575 

— — Joseph Louis, 678, 679 

— — Louis I., 539-41 

— — — II. (le Grand Cond<5), 576, 577, 
586-8 

Condorcet, Marquis de, 652 
Conon, 107, 109, 110 
Conrad I., emperor, 301, 319 

— II., emperor, 312, 341 

— III., emperor, 347, 348 

— IV., emperor, 370, 374, 375, 379, 380, 
382, 383 

— son of Frederick of Antioch, 390 

— of Burgundy, 327 

— (the Red) of Lorraine, 324, 328, 329 

— Shortpole, Count, 323 
Conradin, 383-6, 390-3 

Constance of Aragon, wife of Frederick II., 
emperor, 365, 367, 491 

— of Castile, wife of John of Gaunt, 456, 
467 

— of Sicily, wife of Henry VI., emperor, 
318, 360, 362, 364, 365 

— — daughter of Manfred, 386, 393 
Constans, emperor, son of Constantine the 

Great, 244 
Constant, Benjamin, 700 
Constantia, daughter of Constantine, 244 
Constantine, emperor — 

— I. (the Great), 234, 236-43, 344 

— II., 244 

— ■ V. (Copronymus), 281 

— VI. (Porphyrogenitus), 281, 282 

— XII. Palaeologus), 498 



Constantine, usurper in Britain, 250 

— grand duke of Russia, brother of 
Nicholas I., 706 

— — — — son of Nicholas I., 708 
Constantius I., Chloras, Caesar, 235 

— II., emperor, 244 

— III., emperor, 251, 252 
Conti, Armand, Prince of, 576, 577 
Conway, General, 639 

Cook, Captain, 640 

Cope, Sir John, 636 

Corday, Charlotte, 655 

Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, 186 

Cornwallis, Charles, first marquis, 641 

— Sir William, admiral, 681 
Cotta, M. Aurelius, 195 
Coverdale, Miles, 529 
Cranmer, Thomas, 528, 533 

Crassus, M. Licinius (Dives), 194, 196-9, 204 
Craterus, 166, 172-5 
Crescentius I., 333, 334 

— II. (John), 336, 337 
Crispus, son of Constantine, 242 
Critias, 108 

Critolaus, 183 

Croesus, king of Lydia, 75, 80, 126 
Crompton, Samuel, 645 
Cromwell, Henry, 582 

— Oliver, 570, 571, 577,-82 

— Richard, 582 

— Thomas, 529, 530, 578 
Cumberland, William Augustus, duke of, 

636 
Cunigunda, wife of Henry II., emperor, 341 
Curatii, the, 133 
Curie, Hippolitus, 552 
Curzon, George, Viscount, 757 
Cusanus, Cardinal, 480 , 
Cyaxares, 69, 75 
Cypselus, 133 
Cyrus the Great, 68-71, 73-5, 80 

— the Younger, 108, 109 
Czartoryski, Prince Adam George, 708 

Dachytxides, 109 

Dagobert, king of the Franks, 264 

Damasus, pope, 246 

Damoclides, 113 

Damonides, 98 

Danby, Sir Thomas Osborne, earl of (mar- 
quis of Carmarthen, duke of Leeds), 594, 
597, 607 

Dandolo, Henry, doge of Venice, 362, 363, 
489 

Dante, 487, 503 

Danton, G. J., 652-4, 656 

Darboy, Archbishop, 754 

Darius I. (Hystaspes), king of Persia, 70, 71, 
73-6, 82, 84 

— son of Xerxes, 100 

— III., Codomannus, 166-9 
Darnley, Henry, Lord, 548 
Datis, 86, 87 

Dattus, 315 

Daun, Field-Marshal, 604, 630, 631 

David, king of Israel, 54 

— I., king of Scotland, 408, 409 

— (Bruce), king of Scotland, 435, 436 

— earl of Huntingdon, 430 



774 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Davidovitch, Paul von, 660 

Davidson (Davison), William, 553 

Davis, Jefferson, Confederate president, 733, 

741 
Davout, Marshal, 680, 684, 695 
Deborah, prophetess, 53 
Decazes, Elie, due, 705 
Decius, Roman emperor, 233 
Deinon, 116 
Deioces, 69, 75 
Demaratus, of Corinth, 133 

— king of Sparta, 88 

Demetrius (Poliorcetes), king of Macedon, 
175, 176 

— II., king of Macedon, 177 

— son of Philip III. (V.) of Macedon, 183 

— Phalereus, 175 
De Meza, C. J., 743 
Demophron, 114 

Demosthenes, Athenian general. 106, 107 

— orator, 123, 126-9, 165, 175 
Dermot, king of Leinster, 413 
Derwentwater, James, third earl of, 623 
Desaix, L. G. A., 673, 674 
Desideria, wife of Charlemagne, 284 
Desiderius, king of the Lombards, 284 
Desmond, fifteenth earl of, 551 
Desmoulins, Benet-Camille, 649. 652, 656 
Dessau (Anhalt-), Leopold of, 604, 627 

— Moritz of, 628 
Devonshire, first duke of, 600 

— fourth duke of, 637 
De Wet, General, 762, 763 
Diadumenianus, emperor, 231 
Diaphantos, 120 
Diebitsch, Comte de, 694, 
Diniz, king of Portugal, 467 
Diocletian, emperor, 228, 234-41 
Dionysius of Syracuse I., 157 

— — II., 118, 157 
Dispenser, Hugh, 433 
Disraeli. See Beaconsfield 
Dolgoruki family, 621 

Domitian, emperor, 207-10, 219, 221, 223-5 
Donati family, the, 487, 488 

— Corso, 487, 488 
Doria family, the, 486 

— Andrew, 520 

Dorset, Henry Grey, marquis of, 532 

— Frances, marchioness of, 532 
Douay, Abel, 749 

Douglas, Archibald, fourth earl of, 459 

— James, 433 

— Regent, 434 

— S. A., 732 

— Williain, 431 

— — of Liddesdale 434 
Drake, Sir Francis, 553-5 
Drogo of Haute ville, 316 
Drusus, M. Livms, consul, 187 

— — — Tribune, 191 

— Nero Claudius, 214, 215 

— ■ son of Germanicus, 218, 219 
Dubourg, Anne, 539 
Duclos, Roger, 665 
Dudley, Edmund, 466 

— Lord Guilford, 532 
Dufferin and Ava, marquess of, 757 
Dufour, General, 714 



Duilius, Gaius, 158 

Dumouriez, C. F., 653, 667 

Duncan I., king of Scotland, 314 

Duncan, A. (earl of Camperdown), 668 

Dundas, Henry (viscount Melville), 666, 667 

Dundee, John Graham, Viscount, 608 

Dungi, 24 

Dunstan, St., 309, 310, 312 

Dupleix. Joseph, 636 

Dupont, Comte Pierre, 688, 690 

Duquesne, Marquis, 636 

Duroc, G. C. M., 687 



EAJiNATUM, 21 

Eberhard, duke of Franconia, 319, 322, 323 

— bishop of Constance, 390 
Eck, John, 518 

Eckhard, margrave of Meissen, 337, 340 

— III., margrave of Meissen, 341 

— of Thuringia, 334, 335 
Edgar, king of England, 309, 310 

— Aetheling, 406 

Edgitha, wife of Edward the Confessor, 313 
Edgiva, wife of Charles the Simple, 301, 308 
Edico II., 298 

Edith, wife of Otto I., 308, 331 
Edmund (I.), king of England, 309 

— Ironside, 311, 312, 406 

— (St.), king of East Anglia, 306, 312 
Edred, king of England, 309 

Edric (Streona). of Mercia, 311 

Edward the Elder, king of Wessex, 307, 308 

— — Confessor, king of England, 313-5, 
406 

— king of England : I., 394, 397, 427-32, 
441, 442 ; II., 431-3, 442 ; III., 433-8, 
450, 451, 471 ; IV., 463, 464, 506, 507 ; 
V., 463, 464 ; VI., 529-32 ; VII., 763, 765 

— the Black Prince, 436-8, 452, 453 
Edwy, king of England, 309 

— son of Ethelred II., 312 
Egbert, king of Wessex, 305 
Egeria, 132 

Egerton, Sir Thos. (Lord Ellesmere), 556 
Eginhard, 290, 291 
Egmont, Lamoral, count of, 535, 536 
Egremont, second earl of, 637, 638 
Ehud, 53 
Eigil, 308 

Elagabalus, 231, 232, 234 
Elah, king of Israel, 58 
Eldon, first earl of, 687 
Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II., 409, 
410, 414, 415, 417-9 

— daughter of Henry II., 410 

— of Provence, wife of Henry III., 425, 
427, 428 

— sister of Henry III., 425 

— mother of Ferdinand I. of Aragon, 467 

— Guzman, mother of Pedro the Cruel, 467 
Eleanore, daughter of Charles II. of Naples, 

395 
Elgin, ninth earl of, 757. 
Eli, 53 

Eliakim. See Jehoiakim 
Elijah, 59-61 
Eliot. Sir John, 567, 568 
Elishah, 61, 62 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



775 



Elizabeth, wife of Albert I., emperor, 446 

— — Conrad IV., emperor, 383, 385 

— — Charles IV., emperor, 484 

— daughter of Charles IV., emperor, 471 

— wife of Wenzel II. of Bohemia, 446 

— (Stuart), queen of Bohemia, 559 

— (Tudor), queen of England, 530, 532, 
541, 542, 545-56 

— (Woodville), queen of England, wife of 
Edward IV., 463 

— (of York), queen of England, wife of 
Henry VII., 464, 466, 507 

— sister of Edward IV., 464 

— of France, Princess, 655 

— czarina of Russia, 621, 630, 631 

— queen of Spain, wife of Philip V., 624, 
625 

— landgravine of Thuringia, 369 
Emma of Normandy, queen of England, 

310-3 
Emmeran, of Poitou, 271, 272 
Emmerich, king of Hungary, 491 
Emmet, Thomas, 666 
Empson, Sir Richard, 466 
Engelburga, wife of Boso, 296 
d'Enghien, Due, 674, 678, 679 
Enzio, son of Frederick II., 376-8, 381, 

382 

— son of Manfred, 390 
Epaminondas, 113-20 
Ephialtes, 98, 99 
Epictetus, 227 

Eric, king of Northumbria, 312 
■ — king of Norway, 399 

— king of Sweden, 303 

— the Victorious, 303 
Erlach, Rudolf of, 472 
Erskine, Thomas, Lord, 684 
Ertughrul, 494 
Esarhaddon III., 48, 49 
Espe, Walter, 409 

Essex, Robert Devereux, second earl of. 

555 
d'Estreys, Gabrielle, 544 
Eudamidas, 112, 113 
Eudoxia (Athenais), wife of Theodosius II., 

253 
■ — daughter of Theodosius II., 252, 255 
Eugenie, Empress, 751 
Eugenius, (pope) : III., 351 ; IV., 479-81, 

497, 500 
Eumenes of Pergamum, 175, 178, 179, 183, 

184 
Euric, king of the Visigoths, 255, 279 
Eurybiades, 89 
Eurydice, 118, 122 
Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, 242 
Eustace, count of Boulogne, 408 

— brother of Godfrey of Lorraine, 345 

— son of Stephen, 410 

— the Monk, 424 
Eutharic, 258 
Eutropius, historian, 246 

— chamberlain to Arcadius, 249 
Eyck, John van, 555 

Ezekiel, 67 
Ezra, 68 

Ezzelino da Romano, 374, 375, 377, 378, 
383, 385, 386 



Fabids Miximus, Qo. (Rullus), 154 

— — — (Cunctator), 160-2 
Fabricius (Bohemian regent), 558 
Faggiuola, TJ. della, 447 
Fairfax, Sir Thomas, 571, 583 
Faliero, Marino, doge of Venice, 489, 662 
Faramund, 261 

Farel, William, 525 

Farragut, B. G., 735 

Fatima, 277, 278 

Favre, Jules, 754 

Felix V., anti-pope, 481 

Felton, John, 550 

Feodor, czar of Russia, 614, 615 

Ferdinand I., emperor, 512, 515, 522-5 

— II., emperor, 557-64 

— III., emperor, 561, 564, 587 

— emperor of Austria, 716, 720, 721 

— king of Aragon : I., 467 ; II. (V. of 
Spain) 

— king of Castile, III., 403 

— king of Naples and Sicily, I. (IV.), 662, 
663, 705 

— king of Spain : V., 466, 510 ; VII., 
687-90, 705 

Fernando, king of Portugal, 468 

Ferrand of Portugal. See Flanders 

Ferrers, Alice, 438 

Fesch, Cardinal, 682 

Ffoliot, Gilbert, 414 

Ficino, Marsilio, 501 

Fieschi family, the, 486 

— William, cardinal, 384 
Fimbria, C. F., 192 
Finch, Sir John, 568 

Firmian, Leopold, archbishop of Salzburg, 

627 
Fisher, John, bishop of Rochester, 529 
Fitzgerald, James Fitzmaurice, 551 

— Maurice, 413 

Fitzgilbert, Robert. See Strongbow 

Fitzmaurice (Fitzgerald), James. See Fitz- 
gerald 

Fitzpeter, Geoffrey, 421 

Fitzstephen, Robert, 412 

Fitzurse, Richard, 412 

Flaccus, L. Valerius, 192 

Flambard, Ralph, 405, 406 

Flamininus, T. Quinctius, 181-3 

Flaminius, C, 160 

Flanders, Counts of — 

Baldwin FV., 340 ; Baldwin V., 315 
— (Latin emperor), 362, 363 
Ferrand of Portugal, 366, 421 
Philip of Alsace, 357 

Florida Blanca, count of, 690 

Formosus, pope, 300 

Fortebraccio, Niccolo, 479 

Foscau, Francesco, doge of Venice, 490 

Fouche, Joseph, 656, 672, 690, 703 

Fox, Charles James, 642-4, 666, 673, 677, 
684 

Francis I. (of Lorraine), emperor, 629, 633 

— II. (I. of Austria), emperor, 653, 659, 
670, 683 

— Joseph, emperor of Austria, 721, 729, 
742, 746 

— I., king of France, 515-20, 527, 528, 
539. 540 



776 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Francis II., king of France, 539, 540, 545 
Francis de Sales, St., 535 
Frangipani, the, 369, 377, 382, 384 

— John, 391, 394 
Franklin, Benjamin, 642 

— W. B., 736 
Fredegunde, 264 

Frederick, emperor (Holy Roman), I. (Bar- 
barossa), 318, 348-60, 409 ; II., 364-82, 
384, 398, 420, 425, 472, 485, 487, 491 ; 
III., 481, 504-6, 509, 510 

— III., German emperor, 746, 749, 750 

— IV., king of Denmark, 616, 617, 623 

— VII., king of Denmark, 743 

— I., king of Prussia, 617, 627 

— II. (the Great), king of Prussia, 586, 624, 
626, 628-34, 684, 685 

— (of Aragon), king of Sicily, 394, 395, 

447, 448 

— king of Sweden, 620 

— elector of Palatine : III., 526 ; IV., 
557 ; V., 558-60, 566 

— of Antioch, duke, 390 

— of Austria (Bamberg), 373, 374, 377 

— — (titular), 390-2, 394 

— — (Hapsburg), the Fair, 445, 446, 

448, 449 

— — — (of the Tyrol), 476-8 

— son of Frederick Barbarossa, 360 

— — Henry (VII.), 383 

— — Manfred, 390 

— — William of Holland, 383 

— archbishop of Mainz, 323, 328 

— prince of Wales, 625 

— William, king of Prussia, I., 627, 628 ; 
II. 646; III., 662, 682, 684-6, 696: 
IV., 716, 742 

Fregoso family, the, 487 

Freron, L. S., 656 

Frescobaldi, the, 398, 488 

Fridigern, 248 

Fronto, 227 

Frundsberg, Georg von, 519 

Fugger family, the, 508, 509, 512 

Fulco, archbishop of Rheims, 298, 299 

Fulk (V.) of Anjou, king of Jerusalem, 407 

— of Neuilly, 362 

Fulvia, wife of Mark Antony, 212 
Fulvius, M., Nobilior, 183 

Gad, 56 

Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, 252, 254, 255, 

259 
Gaius (Caligula), emperor, 218-20 

— son of Agrippa, 215, 216 
Galba,, emperor, 219, 221, 222 
Galerius, emperor, 235 
Gallas, Count Matthias, 563 
Gallienus, emperor, 233 
Gallus, emperor, 233 

— Cestius, 222 

— St., 271 

Gantheaume, Count H. J. A., 681 
Gardiner, Stephen, bishop of Winchester, 

530, 532 
Garibald, king of the Bavarians, 263 
Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 727, 728, 746-8, 752 
Gaston of Orleans, brother of Louis XIII., 

574, 575 



Gauda, 189 

Gaudin, M. M. C, 672 

Gaveston, Piers, 432, 433 

Gebhard of Lorraine, 300 

Geilo, 285, 286 

Geisa II., king of Hungary, 490 

— III., king of Hungary, 491 
Gelimer, king of the Vandals, 259 
Gelon of Syracuse, 88, 157 
Genghis Khan, 395, 494, 496 

Geoffrey (Plantagenet), of Anjou, 407, 408, 
410 

— of Brittany, 414, 415, 417, 419 

— archbishop of York, 416, 417 
George, king of England — 

I., 606, 613, 620-2, 625 

II.. 622, 625, 631, 635, 637 

III., 622, 631, 634, 637, 641-3, 651, 666, 

669, 675, 710 
IV., 702, 709-11 

— of Denmark, Prince, 611 

— Podiebrad, king of Bohemia, 504 

— David Lloyd, 765 
Gerard, Balthasar, 538 

— Marshal, 708 
Gerbert. See Sylvester II. 
Germanicus, 217, 218 
Gero, 325 

Gerson, Jean, 475-7 

Gertrude of Meran, 491 

Geta, brother of Caracalla, 230 

Gideon, 53 

Gifford, Gilbert, 552 

Gimilsin, 24 

Ginkel, earl of Athlone, 609 

Gisela, daughter of Charles the Simple, 306 

Giselbert, duke of Lorraine, 320, 322, 323 

Giulay, General, 728 

Glabrio, M. Acilius, 182 

Gladstone, W. E., 712, 755-9, 765 

— Viscount, 763 
Glaucia, C. Servilms, 190 
Glendower, Owen 458, 459 

Gloucester, Gilbert de Clare, earl of, 427, 428 

Godegisel, king of Burgundy, 262 

Godemar, king of Burgundy, 262 

Goderich, Viscount, 707, 711 

Godfrey de Bouillon, 345, 346 

Godolphin, first earl of, 607, 611, 612 

Godoy, prince of the peace, 687-9 

Godwin, earl of Wessex, 313, 314 

Goethe, J. W. von, 684 

Gohier, L. J., 664 

Gordian, emperor, 232 

Gordios, 166 

Gordon, General, 758-60 

Gorgey, 721 

Gorgias, 105 

Gorgidas, 114, 115 

Gorm the Old, king of Denmark, 303, 321 

Gorz, Baron, 619, 620 

Gottfried the Viking, 297 

Goudimel, 525 

Gracchus, G. Senrpronius, 187, 190 

— Tiberius Sempronius : I., 161 ; II., 185 ; 
III., 186, 187 

Grafton, second duke of, 639, 640 
Graham, Sir Gerald, 696 
Gramont, Due de. 749 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



m 



Grant, Ulysses S., 734, 735, 737-41 
Granvella, Cardinal, 535 

— Sieur de, 516, 535 

Granville, John Carteret, Earl, 626, 635, 
636, 638 
— ■ G. G. Leveson-Gower, second earl, 758 

Grasse, Comte de, 642 

Gratian, emperor, 246-8 

Grattan, Henry, 642 

Greenwood, John, 555 

Gregoire, Bishop, 649 

Gregory (pope) : I., 271 ; II., 273 ; III., 
273 ; V., 336, 337 ; VII., 317, 342, 344, 
345, 364, 376, 490, 503 ; IX., 368-72, 374, 
376-8, 425 ; X., 392, 428 ; XI., 471, 475, 
484 ; XII., 475, 476, 484 ; XIII., 550 

Grenville, George, 637-9 

— Sir John, 583 

— Sir Richard, 555 

— Lord, 638, 666, 669, 670, 684 
Grey, Lady Jane, 532 

— John de, bishop of Norwich, 420 

— Sir Richard, 463 

— Sir Thomas, 460 

— second earl, 684, 711 

— de Ruthyn, Lord, 458 
Griffith, king of North Wales, 313 
Grimaldi, the, 486 

Grindal, Archbishop, 550 

Grosstete, Bishop, 425, 426 

Grouchy, Marshal, 700 

Gualo, Cardinal, 423, 424 

Guesclin, Constable du, 437, 452, 453, 467 

Guido of Biandrate, 353 

— Spoleto, emperor, 298 

— Tuscany, 302 

Guise family, the, 539, 540 

— Charles, cardinal of Lorraine, 539-41, 
543, 550 

— Francis, duke of, 539, 541 

— Henry, duke of, 541, 543 

— Mary of, 533, 539, 546 

— Ren6 II., duke of Lorraine, 539 
Guizot, F.-P.-G., 715 
Gundebald, king of Burgundy, 262 
Gundikar, king of Burgundy, 254 
Gunhild, 311 

— daughter of Canute, 312 
Giinther of Schwarzenburg, 469 
Gustavus I. (Vasa), king of Sweden, 516 

— (Adolphus) II., 561-3, 614 

— III., 646 

Guthrum (Aethelstan), Danish king, 306, 307 
Guy of Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, 360, 361 
Gudea, 20 
Gylippus, 107 

Hadrian, emperor, 205, 225-8 

— pope : I., 282, 293 ; III., 297 ; IV., 351, 
352, 355, 410 ; VI., 519 

Hadwisa of Gloucester, wife of John of Eng- 
land, 419 
Haeston, 308 

Hagenbach, Peter von, 506 
Halfdan the Black, 303 
Halifax, first marquis, 598, 599, 607 

— first earl, 622 

— second earl, 638 

— — — See Montagu 



Hallam, Robert, bishop of Salisbury, 476 
Halleck, H. W., 736 
Hamilcar, son of Mago, 92 

— Barca, 158, 159 
Hamilton, first duke of, 571 
Hammurabi, 25, 28-30, 51 
Hampden, John, 569, 570 
Hamza, 275 

Hancock, W. S., 739 
Hannibal, 159-63, 181 
Hannibalianus, 244 
Hanno (Anno), of Cologne, 341 
Harcourt, Sir W. V., 765 
Hardenberg, Prince of, 659 
Hardicanute, king of England, 313 
Hardy, Thomas, 667 
Hargreaves, James, 640, 645 
Harmodius, 82, 83, 169 
Harold I., king of England, 313 

— II., king of England, 313-5 

— Danish king, 305 

— Bluetooth, king of Denmark, 303, 309, 
326, 335 

— Hardrada, king of Norway, 314 

— Harfager, king of Norway, 303 

— Hilderand, 303 

— son of Sven Forkbeard, 311 
Harpalus, 172 

Harrington, first earl of, 636 

Harris, Sir James (first earl of Malmesbury), 

646 
Harrowby, first earl of, 678, 711 
Hartmann, son .of Rudolf I., emperor, 444 
Hasdrubal, son of Giskon, 163 

— son-in-law of Hamilcar, 159 

— brother of Hannibal, 159, 162 

— brother of Massinissa, 184 
Haselrig, Sir Arthur, 570, 582 
Hasting, 304 

Hastings, John (Scottish claimant), 430 

— Lord, 463 
Hatheburg, 322 

Hatto of Mainz, 299, 300 

Haugwitz, Count von, 682 

Havelock, Sir Henry, 726 

Hawkins, John, 554 

Hawley, Henry, 636 

Haynau, Baron J. J. von, 721 

Hazael, 47 

Hebert, J. R., 653, 655, 656 

Hecataeus, 82 

Hedwig, daughter of Louts the Great, 493 

— of Swabia, 332 
Hegelochus, 168 

Heinsius, Anton, 602, 607, 611 

Helena, mother of Constantine, 235, 344 

— daughter of Constantine, 246 

— wife of Manfred, 390, 391 
Helmichis, 263 

Hengist, 253 

Henrietta, duchess of Orleans, 596 

— Maria, wife of Charles I., 566, 574 
Henry I. (the Fowler), 319-22 

— Emperor : II., 340, 341 ; III., 316, 341 ; 
IV., 341, 342, 345, 485 ; V., 342, 347 
VI., 318, 360, 362, 364, 446-9, 486 

— (VII.), son of Frederick II., 366, 373-5, 
383 

— son of Manfred, 390 



77 8 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Henry, son of Albert I., 449 

— Raspe, anti-king, 380 

— of Carinthia, 440, 470 

— the Palsgrave, 363 

— the Lion, See Bavaria 

— king of Castille : II. (of Trastamare), 
437, 452, 453, 467 ; III., 467 ; IV., 467 

— king of England ; I., 405-8. 421 ; II., 
359, 397, 409-16 ; III., 368, 375, 383, 385, 
423-8, 440,; IV., 456-60 ; V., 459-61 ; 
VI., 461-3, 485 ; VII., 464-6 ; VIII., 466, 
515, 516, 519, 526-30, 546 

— son of Henry II., 412, 414, 415 

— of Almaine, 427 

— bishop of Winchester, 408-10 

— son of David of Scotland, 409 

— king of France : II., 520, 523. 539 ; III., 
538, 541-4, 566 ; IV.. 538-45, 592 

— the Navigator, Prince, 468 
Hephaestus, 165, 172, 173 
Heraclitus, 82 

Heraclius I., emperor, 275, 277, 281 

— (eunuch), 255 

Hereford, Humphrey Bohun, third earl of, 
431 

— — — fourth earl of, 433 
Herihor, 42 

Hermann the Billing, 324 

— archbishop of Cologne, 299 

— duke of Swabia, 322, 340 

— of Salza, 374, 376 
Hermanrich. See Amanrich 
Herod Agrippa, 220 
Herodes Atticus, 227 
Herodian, historian 

Herodotus, 27, 38, 40, 42, 44, 70, 73 
Hezekiah, king of Judah, 43, 48, 65, 66 
Hiempsal, 187, 188 

Hiero II., king of Syracuse, 157, 158, 161 
Hildebald, bishop of Worms, 337 
Hildebrand. See Gregory VII. 
Ilildegarde, wife of Charlemagne, 293 
Hilderic, king of the Vandals, 259 
Hilperic, king of Burgundy, 262 
Hincmar of Reims, 296, 297 
Hipparchus, son of Charmos, 87 

— ■ — Pisistratus, 82 
Hippias, 81, 82, 84 
Hippocrates, 122 
Hipponax, 82 

Hiram, king of Tyre, 55, 56 

Hirtius, A., 210 

Hisham III., 400 

Histiaeus, 75, 85 

Hoche, Lazare, 660 

Hofer, Andreas, 691 

Hohenlohe, Frederick Louis, Prince von, 684 

Hohenzollern (-Sigmaringen) — 

Anton, prince of, 742 

Leopold, prince of, 748 

— See Brandenburg 
Hoiko of Saxony, 336 
Holies, Denzil (Lord), 570 
Holstein Gottorp, duke of — 

Charles Frederick, 620 

Frederick IV., 616, 617 

Honorius, emperor, 249-52 

— son of Constantius, 251, 252 
III., pope, 367, 368, 424, 425 



Honorius IV., pope, 394 
Hood, Viscount, 667 

— J. B., 740 
Hooker, Joseph, 736-8 

Hooper, John, bishop of Gloucester, 533 
Hoorn, Count, 535, 536 
Hophra. See Apries 
Hopton, Sir Ralph, 57o 
Horatii, the, 133 
Horsa, 253 

Hortense (Beauharnais), wife of Louis Bona- 
parte, 677, 682 
Horus, 2-6, 9 
Hosea, king of Israel, 48, 65 

— prophet, 63, 64 

Howard of Effingham, Charles, Lord, 554 

— Richard, first earl, 667 

— William, fifth viscount, 641 
Howick. See Grey 

Hubert de Burgh, 419, 423-5 

— Walter, 418, 419 

Hugh the Great, duke of France, 301 

— count of La Marche, 425 

— (de Puiset), bishop of Durham, 417 
Hugo, king of Italy, 302, 326, 327 

— son of Waldrada, 297 
Humbert. See Savoy 
Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, 461 

of Hauteville, 316 

Huni, 7 

Hmmeric, 259 

Hunyadi, John, 497, 498, 504 

Huskisson, William, 711 

Huss, John, 476-8, 518 

Hussein, 278 

Hiitten, Ulrich von, 518 

Hyksos, the, 15, 16, 30, 39, 50, 51 

Hyrcanus (Maccabaeus), 195 

Hystaspes, 76 



Ibisin, 24, 28 

Ibnabed, 368 

Ibrahim Pasha, 706, 707 

Ida, wife of Lindolf, 327 

Inarus, 101, 102 

Ingeborg, wife of Philip Augustus, 439 

Ingvar, 306, 307 

Injaldrada, 303 

Innocent (pope) : II., 318, 348 ; III., 362-7, 
374, 403, 419-23, 439, 503 ; IV., 379, 
380, 382-4, 425 ; VI., 469-71, 483 ; VII., 
475, 484 ; VIII., 502 ; XL, 591 

Iolaides, 120 

Iolanthe, wife of Andrew II., 491 

— wife of Frederick II., emperor, 367, 369, 
370 

Iphicrates, 110, 115, 123 
Irene, empress, 281, 282 
Isa, son of Bajezid I., 496 
Isaac Angelus, emperor, 360, 363 
Isabella (the Catholic), queen of Castile, 404, 
466, 467, 510 

— II., queen of Spain, 748 

— "Archduke," 538 

— of Angouleme, wife of John of England, 
419 

— of England, wife of Frederic II., 375, 
379, 383, 425 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



779 



Isabella of France, wife of Edward II., 431, 
433, 434 

— — wife of Richard II., 456, 459 

— of Portugal, wife of Charles V., 528 
Isaiah, 63-5 

Isidore, St., 403 

Ismenias, 113 

Isocrates, 113 

Ithin, 28 

Ivan III., czar of Russia, 615 

— VI., czar of Russia, 621 

— brother of Peter II., 621 

— Kalita, 303 

— the Wild, 493 

Jackson, " Stonewall," 735-7 
Jacob, 50 

Jacquetta of Luxembourg, 463 
Jagello, king of Poland, 493 
Jagellons, the, 615, 616 
James I. (VI.), king of England, 549, 553, 
655-7, 606 

— II., 596-600, 602, 608-10 

— (III.), the Old Pretender, 602, 611, 623 
■ — I., king of Scotland, 459 

— IV., 466 

— (of Aragon), king of Sicily, 394 

— of Majorca, 482 
Jameson, Sir Starr, 761 

Jane (Seymour), queen of England, 529, 530 

— Grey, Lady. See Grey 

Jansen, Cornelius, and the Jansenists,591,592 

Jarislav of Russia, 493 

Jason of Pherae, 115, 117, 125 

Jechoniach. See Jehoiachin 

Jeffries, Judge, 599 

Jehoash, king of Israel, 62 

Jehoiachin, king of Judah, 67 

Jehoiakim, king of Judah, 67 

Jehoidah, 62, 63 

Jehoram, king of Israel, 61 

— — Judah, 59, 61 
Jehosaphat, king of Judah, 58, 59, 61 
Jehu, king of Israel, 47, 61, 62 
Jellachich, ban of Croatia, 720 
Jenkins, Captain, 626 

Jeremiah, 67, 68 

Jeroboam, I., king of Israel, 56, 57, 59 

— II., king of Israel, 62 
Jerome of Prague, 476, 477 

Jervis, John (earl of St. Vincent), 668 

Jezdegerd III., shah, 277 

Jezebel, 58-62 

Joan of Arc, 462 

Joanna of Castile, 466, 511, 527 

— daughter of Charles V. of France, 451 

— daughter of Louis X., 442 

— I., queen of Naples, 482-4 

— II., queen of Naples, 484, 485 
Joash, king of Israel, 62, 63 
Johanna, wife of the Black Prince, 437 

— — of David Bruce, 434 

— — Philip IV. of France, 440 

— — William the Good, of Sicily, 410 
John (pope) : I., 257 ; VIII., 295-7 ; X., 

302 ; XL, 302 ; XII., 329, 330 ; XIII., 
330, 333 ; XrV, 334 ; XV., 336 ; XVI. 
anti-pope), see John of Calabria ; XXL, 
392 ; XXII., 449, 450 ; XXIII., 476, 477 



John V. (Palaeologus), emperor, 495, 496 

— [VI.], colleague of Manuel II., 495, 496 

— VII. (or VI.), colleague of Manuel II., 
481, 497 

— king of Aragon, I. and II., 467 

— king of Bohemia, 448, 450, 451, 469 

— king of Castile, I. and II., 467 

— king of England, 366, 369, 415, 417-24, 
439 

— (II.), king of France, 436, 437, 451, 452, 
505 

— of Brienne, king of Jerusalem, 367, 368, 
371 

— II. (Casimir), king of Poland, 614, 616 

— III. (Sobieski), king of Poland, 590, 616 

— L, king of Portugal, 468 

— VI., king of Portugal, 687, 705, 706 

— of Austria, Don, 538, 590 

— of Calabria, anti-pope, 336, 337 

— of God, 534 

— of Gorz, 471 

— of Hapsburg, 446 

— archbishop of Mainz, 474 

— of Pomuk, 473 

— of Procida, 393 

— Henry of Moravia, 450, 471, 474 
Johnston, Joseph, 733, 735, 739-41 
Joseph (the patriarch), 50 

— I., emperor, 603, 607 

— II., emperor, 633, 634 

— patriarch of Constantinople, 481 
Josephine Beauharnais, wife of Napoleon I., 

661, 664, 672, 677, 682, 692 
Joshua, 52 

Josiah, king of Judah, 44, 66, 67 
Jost, margrave of Moravia, 474 
Jotham, 63, 64 
Joubert, B.-C, 660, 663 
Jourdan, Marshal, 658, 660, 662, 680 
Jovian, emperor, 245 
Juarez, Mexican president, 747 
Juba, king of Numidia, 201 
Judith, wife of Aethelwulf, 306 

— — — Louis the Pious, 293, 294 

— mother of Barbarossa, 349 
Jugurtha, 187-9 

Julia, daughter of Agrippa, 215 

— — — Augustus, 215 

— — — Caesar, 197, 199 

— Domna, 230, 231 

— Maesa, 231 
Julian, emperor, 244, 245 

— Cardinal, 480, 497 
Julianus, Didius, 229, 230 

Julius (pope) : II., 503, 513 ; III., 523 

— Nepos, emperor, 255, 256 
Junot, Andoche, 687, 690 

Justin (emperor) : I., 257, 258 ; II., 263, 

274 
Justina, wife of Valentinian I., 247, 248 
Justinian the Great, 240, 253, 257-60, 262, 

263 274 
Jusuf ,' the Cid, 402 
Juvenal, 219 

Kaditah, wife of Mohammed, 275, 276 
Kalid, 277 
Kallimachus, 86 
Kantakuzenos, John, 495 



780 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Kara Mustapha, 589, 590 

Karlmann, son of Charles Martel, 272, 273 

— — Louis the German, 295-8 
— — the Stammerer, 297 

— See also Carloman 

Katharine, wife of Charles of Calabria, 448 

— See Catherine 
Katte, Lieutenant, 628 
Kaunitz, Prince von, 630, 633 
Keith, Sir R. M., 646 

— Viscount, 701 
Kellermann, Marshal, 659, 680 
Ken, Bishop, 599 
Kenmure, sixth viscount, 623 
Kephisodorus, 120 
Kersobleptes, 127 

Ket, Robert, 531 

Kildare, eighth earl of, 466 

Kilian, bishop of Wiirzburg, 271 

Kirke, Colonel, 408 

Kitchener, Viscount, 760, 762 763 

Kleber, J. B., 658, 674 

Kleist, E. F., Count, 695 

Kleph, king of the Lombards, 263 

Knox, John, 546, 547 

Kolman, king of Hungary, 490 

Kolokotrones, Theodoras, 706 

Korsakov, Alexander, 663 

Korybut, 478 

Kossuth, Louis, 720-2 

Kray, Baron von, 673 

Kruger, Paul, 761-3 

Kunemund, king of the Gepidae, 263 

Kuropatkin, A. N., 764 

La Chaise, Pere, 592 

Ladislaus, St., king of Hungary. 490 

— III., king of Hungary, 491 ' 

— IV., king of Hungary, 389, 491 49'? 

— V. (Postumus), 504 

— VII., 509 

— I., king of Naples, 476 

— II., king of Naples, 484, 499 
Laevinus, M. Valerius, 162 

— See Lavinius 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 649, 650, 652, 708, 

Lafitte, Jacques, 708 
La Harpe, F. C. de, 697 
Lainez, lago, 534, 540 
Lake, bishop of Chichester, 599 

— first viscount, 668 
Lally-Tollendal, Marquis de, 649 
Lamachus, 107 

La Marmora, A. P., 744, 746 
Lamartine, Alphonse de, 715, 718 
Lamballe, Princesse de, 647 
Lancaster, Edmund Crouchback, earl of 
383-5, 426, 430, 432 

— John of Gaunt, duke of, 437 453-7 
461,464,467,468 ' 

— Thomas, earl of, 432, 433 

— James, 555 
Lancia, Galvano, 391 
Lando, Michele, 488 
Lanfranc, Archbishop, 405 
Langton, Stephen, 420, '421, 424 
Lannes, Marshal, 680, 685, 690, 691 
La B.enaudie, Seigneur de, 539, 540 



Larevelliere-Lepeaux, L. M. de 656 
Larochefoucauld, Due de. 649 
Larochejaquelin, Marquis de, 656 
Lasos, 82 
Latimer, Bishop, 533 

— Lord, 438 
Latour-Maubourg, Marquis de 649 
Laud, William, 567-71 
Lauderdale, first duke of, 595, 597 
Lawrence, Sir Henry, 726 

— Sir John, 726 
Lautrec, Vicomte de, 520 
Lavinius (Laevinus), M. Valerius 155 
Lazarus of Servia, 495 

Leboeuf, marshal, 748, 749 

Lebrun, C.-P., 666, 672 

Lecoq, Robert, 451, 452 

Ledru-Rollin, A. -A., 718 

Lee, Robert E., 735-7, 739-41 

Lefebvre, Marshal, 658, 660 

Lefort, Francois, 615 

Leicester, Robert Dudley, earl of, 538 553 

Lenthall, William, 582 

Lentulus, P. Cornelius, 196 

Leo (pope) : I. (the Great), 225 ; III 290 

293; IV., 305; VIII., 330; IX.."' 316 

X., 303, 513, 517 

~8i em ?v°m : ^, 237 : , IIL (the Isa ™an), 
281 , IV. (the Chazar), 281 

Leonidas the Macedonian, 165 

— king of Sparta, 90 
Leonnatus, 174, 175 
Leontiades, 113, 114 
Leontinus, 253 

Leopold (emperor) : I., 587, 590, 592 601 
627 ; II., 634, 652, 653 

— I., king of the Belgians, 708 

of Austria, half-brother of Conrad III 
347 

— (VI.), captor of Richard I., 418 

— — VII., 367 

— — son of Albert I., 445, 448-9 
Leotychides, 95 

Leovigild, king of the Visigoths 279 
Lepidus, M. Aemilius, 211, 212 
Lestocq, Armand, 621 
Letourneur, C. L. F. H, 656 
Lewenhaupt, Adam, 618 
L'Hopital, Michel de, 541 
Libanius, 245 
Licinius, emperor, 236 

— Calvus, C. (Stolo), 139 

— — P., 146 

Lincoln, Abraham, American president 73° 

733, 735-7, 740, 741 
Lincoln, Hugh, earl of, 430 

— Mrs., 741 

Liudolf, son of Otto I., 324 327-9 
Liutbold, Bishop, 299 
Liutgard, daughter of Otto 1 , 324 329 
Liverpool, second earl of, 692, 696, 699 710 
Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus, 215 216 
Livius (historian), 135 

— Marcus (priest;, 154 

— — Salinator, 162 
Lloyd, bishop of St. Asaph, 599 
Lobkowitz, Prince von, 590 
Lollius, M., 216 
Longchamp, William of, 417, 418 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



781 



Longueville, Anne, duchess of, 576 

— Henry II., duke of, 576 
Longus, Tiberius Sempronius, 160 
Lorraine, Charles, duke of, 591 

— Francis, duke of. See Francis, emperor 
Lothar I., emperor, 293-5, 330 

— II., emperor, 318, 347 

— II., of Lotharingia, 295 

— IV., of France, 333, 335 

— of Italy, 327 

Louis I., the Pious, emperor, 286, 292-5 

— II., emperor, 295 

— the Bavarian, emperor, 435, 448-50, 
469, 470, 472 

— of Anjou : I., 484 ; II., 484 ; III., 484, 
485 (king of Naples) 

— king of France : II. (the Stammerer), 
296, 297 ; III., 297 ; IV., (d'Outremer), 
301, 308, 323, 333 ; VI., 407 ; VII., 348, 
409, 412, 414, 415, 439 ; VIIL, 368, 419, 
422-4, 439 ; IX., 371, 383, 386, 387, 395, 
426, 440, 544 ; X., 441, 442 ; XL, 506, 
507 ; XII., 532 ; XIIL, 567, 573-5 ; 
XIV., 441, 575-7, 584-93, 595-7, 599-607, 
610, 611, 613, 619, 624, 627, 647, 651, 672 ; 
XV., 441, 585, 607, 624, 625, 647 ; XVI., 
585, 647-50, 652-6, 692, 703 ; XVIL, 653, 
656 ; XVIIL, 647, 656, 698, 699, 701, 705, 
707 

— king of the East Franks — 
the German, 293, 297 

the Younger, 295-7 
the Child, 300 

— the Great, king of Hungary, 483, 484, 
492, 493 

— the Dauphin (son of Louis XIV.), 610 

— son of Boso, 298 

— duke of Orleans, 459 

— of Taranto, 482 

— of Valois, 485 

— Ferdinand, prince of Prussia, 684 

— Philippe, king of the French, 649, 708, 
714-6 

Louisa Maria, wife of Charles IV. of Spain, 

687-9 
Louise, queen of Prussia, 686 
Louvel, L. P., 705 

Louvois, Marquis de, 585, 588, 589, 592 
Lowe, Sir Hudson, 701 
Loyola, Ignatius, 533, 534 
Lucan, third earl of, 724 
Lucius, Caesar, son of Agrippa, 215, 216 
Lucullus, L. Licinius, 195 
Lugulzagglsi, 21 
Lullus of Mainz, 273 
Luther, Martin, 516-8, 520, 521, 527 
Luxembourg, Marshal, 586, 587, 593 
Luynes, Constable, 573, 574 
Lycophron of Pherae, 125 
Lyndhurst, first baron, 711 
Lyons, Richard, 438 
Lysander, 107-9 
Lysias, 113 

Macbeth, king of Scotland, 314 
Maccabees, the, 179, 180, 184, 185 
McClellan, G. B., 734-6, 740 
Macdonald, due de Tarente, 659, 662, 693, 
695 



MacDowell, Irvin, 733 

Machiavelli, Niccolo, 501, 502 

Mack, Baron Charles, 681 

Macklin, Charles, 683 

Macmahon, Marshal, 728, 749-51, 753, 754 

Macrinus, emperor, 231 

Maecenas, C. Cilnias, 215 

Mago, brother of Hannibal, 159, 162, 163 

Mahmoud, 760 

— II., sultan, 706, 707 
Mahomet Ali, of the Carnatic, 636 

— (Khedive), 706, 707 
Maillard, Stanislas, 653 
Maillart, Jean, 452 

Maine, Charles, count of, 484 
Maintenon, Madame de, 592 
Majorian, emperor, 255 
Makkab, Judas. See Maccabees 

— Mattathias. See Maccabees 
Malcolm III., king of Scotland, 406 
Mamaea, Julia, 231, 232 
Manasseh, 66 

— archbishop of Milan, 328 
Mancini, Maria, 577 

— Olympia, 577 
Mandane, 75 
Manetho, 11, 12, 15, 41 

Manfred, son of Frederic II., 381-8, 393, 487 
Manin, Daniel, doge of Venice, 661 
Mansfeldt, Count Ernst of, 558, 559, 566 
Manuel (emperor) : I. (Comnenus), 318 

— — II. (Palaeologus), 458, 495-7 
Mar, twenty-second (or sixth) earl of, 623 
Marat, J. P., 652-4 

Marbod, 218 

Marceau, F. S. de G., 658 

Marcel, Stephen, 451, 452 

Marcella, niece of Augustus, 215 

Marcellus, M. Claudius, consul, 159, 161, 162 

— — nephew of Augustus, 215 
Marchand, J. B., 760 

Marcia, mistress of Commodus, 229 
Marcus Aurelius, emperor, 225, 228 
Mardonius, 85-7, 92, 93 
Maret, H. B., 672 

Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI., 461-3, 
485, 507 

— Austria, wife of Henry (VII.), 375 

— — ■ ■ — • daughter of Maximilian, 507 

— Burgundy, wife of Louis X., 442 

— France, wife of Edward I., 431 

— — daughter of Louis VII., 412 

— Navarre, sister of Francis I., 548 

— the Maid of Norway, 430 

— of Scotland, wife of Malcolm III., 406 

— (Tudor), wife of James IV., 466, 548, 
565 

— of Valois, wife of Henry IV., 542, 544 

— wife of Alberic of Romano, 385 

— Maultasch, 450, 470, 471 

— Theresa, wife of Leopold I., 601 
Maria of Durazzo, 482 

— sister of Ladislaus IV., 492 

— wife of Sigismund, 492 

— Caroline, queen of Naples, 662, 680 

— da Gloria, queen of Portugal, 706 

— Theresa, wife of Louis XIV., 577, 601 

— — empress, 625, 626, 628, 630, 632, 
633, 647 



782 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Marie Antoinette, queen of France, 647, 648, 

653, 655, 692 
Marie Leszczynska, queen of France, 624-5 
Marie Louise, wife of Napoleon I., 692, 698, 

703 
Marinus, pope, 297 
Marius, Gaius, 188-92 
Marlborough, first duke of, 602-5, 611-3, 

617 

— Sarah, duchess of, 605, 613 
Marmont, Marshal, 696, 697, 699 
Marozia, 302, 326, 330 

Marshall, Gilbert, fourth earl of Pembroke, 
425 
■ — Richard, third earl of Pembroke, 425 

— William, first ear! of Pembroke, 424, 425 
Martianus, 231 

Martin, St., 288 

Martin, king of Aragon, 467 

— (pope) : IV., 392, 393 ; V., 478, 479 
Martinitz, Jaroslav von, 558 

Martyr, Peter, 540 

Mary, duchess of Burgundy, 466 

— Stuart, queen of Scots, 533, 539, 540, 
545—553 

— (I.) Tudor, queen of England, 528, 530, 
532, 533, 545 

— (Tudor), queen of France and duchess of 
Suffolk, 530, 532 

— II., queen of England, 597, 600, 607-9 
Massena, Marshal, 658, 662, 663, 680, 696 
Massey, John, dean of Christ Church, 599 
Massinissa, 163, 164, 184, 187 

Massiva, 188 

Mataniah. See Zedekiah 

Mathilda, wife of Henry the Fowler, 322 

— empress, wife of Henry V., 407-9 

— queen of England, wife of William I., 
315 

— — — Henry I, 406, 407 

— wife of Henry the Lion, 410 

— daughter of Otto I., 338 

— of Tuscany, countess, 365, 376 
Matthias, emperor, 557, 558 

■ — (Corvinus), king of Hungary, 504, 509 

— of Austria, archduke, 537, 538 
Mauleon, Savary de, 423 
Maurice, emperor, 274 

— of Nassau, 538 

— of Saxony. See Saxony 
Mausolus of Caria, 123 
Mavrocordato, Alessandro, 706 
Maxentius, emperor, 235, 236 
Maximian, emperor, 235 

Maximilian I, emperor, 466, 506-13, 515, 
518, 528 

— II., emperor, 525, 537, 557 

— (of Austria), emperor of Mexico, 747 
Maximin I., emperor, 232 

— II., emperor, 236 
Maximus, Magnus Clemens, 248 
Mayenne, Charles, duke of, 544 
Mazarin, Cardinal, 575-7, 584, 585 
Mazeppa, Ivan, 618 

Meade, G. G., 737 

Medici family, the, 488-500, 508, 509 

— Bianca, 502 

— Catherine, 520, 540-3, 550 

— Cosimo, 488-501 



Medici, Giovanni, 488, 499 

— — See Leo X. 

— Giuliano (son of Lorenzo), 503 

— (son of Pietro), 501, 502 

— Lorenzo, son of Giovanni, 488-500 

— — the Magnificent, 501-3 

— Maddelena, 502 

— Mary, wife of Henry IV, 544, 573, 574 

— Pietro, son of Cosimo, 501 

— — — - Lorenzo, 503 

— Salvestro, 488 

Medina Sidonia, seventh duke of, 538, 554 

Medios, 109 

Megabazus, 75, 76 

Megacles, 87 

Megobyzus, 102 

Meinhard of Gorz, 390 

— III., 470, 471 
Melak 593 

Melanc.hthon, Philip, 518, 520, 523, 526 

Melanthus, 84 

Melbourne, second viscount, 711, 712 

Mellon, 113, 114 

Melus, 315 

Memmius, Gaius, 188, 190 

Memnon. See Amenophis III. 

— the Bhodian, 166 
Menahem, king of Israel, 48, 63, 64 
Mendoza, Bernardino de, 551 
Meneptah, 41 

Menes, 1, 4-6 
Menestheus, 95 
Menotti, Ciro, 708 
Menshikov, A. D., 621 

— Prince A. S., 723, 724 
Mentuhotep, 12 
Menzikov. See. Menshikov 
Merveldt, Count von, 696 
Merwig, 261 

Messalina, wife of Claudius, 228 
Metellus (Caecilius), L., 158 

— — Q., Creticus, 194 

— — — Macedonicus, 183 

— — — Numidicus, 188 
Metternich, Prince of, 692, 694, 698, 704, 

710, 716 
Mettius Fufetius, 133 
Michael, king of Poland, 616 

— III. (Romanoff ), czar of Russia, 614 
Micipsa, 187 

Miguel, Dom, claimant to Portugal, 706 
Milner, Sir Alfred (viscount), 762 
Milo, 79 

— T. Annius Papianus, 198, 199 
Miltiades, 76, 82, 85-87 
Miltitz, Karl von, 518 

Milton, John, 579, 581 
Mina, F. E. y, 706 
Minucius Eufus, 161 
Mirabeau, Count, 648-51 
Mirandola, Pico della, 503 
Mithradates, king of Pergamum, 200 

— VI., king of Pontus, 179, 191, 192, 194, 
195 

Moawija, 278, 279 

Modena, Francis IV., duke of, 708, 709 

Mohammed, 274-8 

— I., sultan 496, 497 

— II., sultan, 497. 498 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



783 



Mohammed IV., sultan, 590, 591 

— of Seville. 401 

— Ibn Al Hamah, 404 
Molay, Jacques de, 441 
Mole, Matthieu, 576 

— Count L. M. de, 715 

Moltke, Count Hehnuth K. B. vou, 749, 751 
Momylus. See Romulus Augustulus 
Moncey, Marshal, 680, 688 
Monk, George (duke of Albemarle) 582, 583, 

595 
Monmouth, James Scott, duke of, 598, 599 
Montagu, Charles, earl of Halifax, 611 
Montague, bishop of Chichester, 567 
Montcalm, Marquis de, 641 
Montecuculi, Count Raymond of, 588, 590 
Montesecco, G. B. da, 502 
Montferrat, counts and marquises of — 

Boniface, 362, 363 

— 377 
Giovanni IV., 485 
William, 350 

— (2), 377 

Montfort, Simon de, earl of Leicester, 425, 

427, 428 
Montmorency, Arme de (Constable), 521, 540, 

541 

— Count, 649 

Montpellier, Count William of, 402 

Montrose, first marquis of, 570 

Moore, Sir John, 690 

Moray, James Stuart, second earl of, 549 

More, Sir Thomas, 528, 529 

Moreau, Edward, 753 

— Jean Victor, 659, 660, 662-5, 673, 
678-80, 695 

— Colonel, 697 
Moreale, Fra, 471, 483 
Moreville, Hugh of, 412 

Mortier, Marshal, 680, 690, 695, 697 
Mortimer, earls of March — 
Roger, first earl, 433, 434 

— fourth earl, 456 
Edmund, fifth earl, 457-60 

Morton, Cardinal, 464, 465 
Moses, 51. 52 

Mountjoy, eighth baron, 555 
Mowbray, Thos. (Earl Marshall), earl of Not- 
tingham, and duke of Norfolk, 456, 457 

— — (Earl Marshall), son of the preced- 
ing, 459 

Muled Abul Hassan, 404 
Mummius, L., Achaicus, 183 
Munich (Munnich), B. C. von, 621 
Murad I., sultan, 495 

— II., sultan, 497 

Murat, Joachim, king of Naples, 665, 680, 

683, 685, 688, 690, 695, 700, 704 
Murena, L. Licinius, 192 
Murta, Giovanni di, doge of Genoa, 486 
Mus, P. Decius, 154 
Musa, 279, 280 

— son of Bajezid I., 496 
Musikanos, 171 
Mycerinus, 7, 8 

Nabis, 182 

Nabonetus. See Belshazzer 

Nabupolasser, 75 



Nadab, 57 

Nahor, Bernardo, 501 

Napoleon I., emperor, 605, 631, 657-704 

— II., king of Rome, 692, 698, 701 

— III., emperor, 682, 718, 719, 722, 725, 
727-9, 744, 745, 747, 749-51, 753 

— Eugene (Prince Imperial), 749, 757 
Naramsin, 23 

Narcissus, 229 

Narses, 259, 260 

Nathan, 56 

Nau, Claude, 552 

Nausicles, 126 

Navarre. See Albret, Antoine, Henry IV., 

Margaret 
Nearchus, 172 
Neboned, 80 

Nebuchadnezzar, 17, 44, 67, 79, 173 
Necho, 43, 44 

Necker, Jacques, 648, 649, 673 
Nehemiah, 68, 72 
Neipperg, Count A. A. von, 698 
Nektanabis 120 
Nelson, Horatio (Viscount), 663, 664, 668 

675, 681 
Neri, St. Philip, 534 
Nerli, The, 488 
Nero, C. Claudius, 162 

— Tiberius Claudius, 215 

— son of Germanicus, 218, 219 

— emperor, 219, 221, 222 
Nerva, emperor, 225 

Newcastle, William Cavendish, earl and duke 
of, 570 

— Thos. Pelham-Holles, duke of, 635-7 
Ney, Marshal, 680, 690, 695, 699, 700 
Nicholas (pope) : II., 317 ; III., 392 ; IV., 

394 ; V. (anti-pope), 449, 450 ; (pope), 
481 

— I., czar of Russia, 706, 722, 724 

— of Pistna, 478 

Nicias, 106, 107 ; peace of, 106 

Nicomedes of Bithynia, 178, 195 

Niger, C. Pescennius, 229 

Nightingale, Florence, 724 

Nogaret, William of, 441 

Norfolk, Thos. Howard, third duke of, 530 

— — — fourth duke of, 549, 551 

— See Bigod and Mowbray 
Normandy, Dukes of — 

Richard : I., 310 ; II., 310, 311 ; III., 314 

Robert : I. (the Devil), 314 ; II. (Curt- 
hose), 345, 405, 406 

Rollo, 301 
Norris, Sir John, 555 
North, Lord (second earl of Guildford), 

640-3 
Northumberland, Henry Percy, first earl of, 

458 459 

— John Dudley, duke of, 531, 532 

— Thomas Percy, seventh earl of, 549, 
551 

Nottingham, Daniel Finch, earl of, 607, 
612 

— See Norfolk 
Numa Pompilius, 132 
Numator, 132 
Numerianus, 234 
Nushirvan, shah, 274 



7 8 4 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Obadiah, 59 

Octavia, wife of Mark Antony, 212 
Ootavianus. See Augustus 
Octavius, Gn., 191 

— M., 187 

Odo of Paris, king of France, 298, 299, 301 

— archbishop of Canterbury, 309, 310 
Odoacer, 255, 256 

Odysseus, 706 

Olaf Tryggveson, king of Norway, 310 

— St., king of Norway, 312 
Oldcastle, Sir John, 460 
Olden-Barneveld, J. von, 538 
Olympia, wife of Philip of Macedon, 124 
Omar, 275-8 

Ommaijads, the, 278-81, 401 

Omri, 58 

Onomarchos, 125 

Ophnius, L„ 187 

Orchan, 494, 495 

Orestes, patrician, 255, 256 

Orford, Edward Russell, earl of, 611 

— See Sir Robert Walpole 

Orleans, Philip (Egalite), duke of, 649, 650, 
654, 655, 708 

— dukes of. See Gaston and Loms 
Ormond, seond duke of, 622 
Ornano, Marshal, 574 

Orsini, Clarice, 501 

— Felice, 727 

— the, 307 

Osburga, mother of Aelfred, 307 

Osman, 494 

Ota, 300 

Otlrman, 275, 276, 278 

Othniel, 53 

Otho, emperor, 219, 222 

Otto I., emperor, 308, 322-31, 335 

— II., emperor, 329, 331-4 

— III., 334-40, 503 

— IV., emperor, 362-4, 366, 418, 420, 421 
Otto I., king of the Hellenes, 706 

— of Austria, son of Albert I., emperor, 
450 

— Carinthia, 336, 337 

— son of Liudolf of Swabia, 332 

— of Lomello, count, 339 
Ottokar I., king of Bohemia, 363 

— II., king of Bohemia, 389, 443, 444, 491 

— See Odoacer 
Oudinot, Marshal, 695, 713 
Outram, Sir James, 726 
Oxenstierna, Axel, 562, 563 

Oxford, Robert Harley, earl of, 605, 606, 611, 

613, 622 
Oxyartes, 170 

Paine, Thomas, 666 

Palaeologus, Admiral, 318 

Palafox, Joseph, 690 

Palavicini, 386 

Pallig, Jarl, 311 

Palmerston, third viscount, 696, 711, 712, 

724 
Pandolfo the Ironhead, 333 
Pandulf of Anagni, 371 

— legate in England, 421, 424 
Pansa, C. Vibius, 210 

Paoli, Pasquale de', 658 



Papinian, 231 
Papirius Cursor, L., 153 
Pappenheim, Count G. F. zu, 562 
Paris, Louis P. A., comte de, 715 
Parker, Matthew, 546, 550 
Parma, Alexander Farnese, duke of, 537, 
538, 544, 554 

— Margaret, duchess of, 535, 536 
Parmenio, 127, 166, 167, 170 
Parry, William, 551 

Parsons, Robert, 551, 553 

Parysatis, 172 

Pascal, Blaise, 591 

Paschal I., pope, 293 

Paskewich, Marshal, 708 

Patrick, St., 271 

Paul III. (pope), 521, 522, 529, 534 

— IV., 534, 445, 548 

— I., czar of Russia, 663, 674, 675 
Paulet, Sir Amyas, 552 

Paulus, L. Aemilius, 161 

— — — Macedonicus, 183, 186 

— Diaconus, 286, 290 

— Julius, 231 
Pausanias of Sparta, 93-6, 98 

— king of Sparta, 107 
Pazzi, the, 502 

— Francesco de, 502 
Pedro. See Peter 

Peel, Sir Robert, 711, 712 
Pekah, king of Israel, 48, 64, 65 
Pekahaiah, king of Israel, 64 
Pelham, Henry, 635, 636 
Pelopidas, 113, 114. 116-9 
Pemberton, J. C, 737 
Penn, William, 640 
Penry, John, 555 
Pepe, Guglielmo, 705 
Pepi I., 10, 11 

— II., 10, 11 

Pepin (of Heristal), 272 

— (of Landen), 271, 272 

— le Bref, 272, 273, 283, 285, 287 

— son of Charlemagne, 286, 289, 29^, 
293 

— grandson of Charlemagne, 293, 294 
Perceval, Spencer, 686, 692, 696 
Percy, Henry. See Northumberland 

— Hotspur, 458, 459 

— Thomas. See Worcester 
Perdiccas, king of Macedon : I., 121 ; II., 

121 ; III., 118, 122 

— Alexander's general, 166, 174 
Pericles, 98, 99, 102-6 ; peace of, 104 
Perier, Casimir, 708 

Perignon, Marshal, 680 
Perpenna, M., Vento, 194 
Perseus, king of Macedon, 183 
Pertinax, emperor, 229 
Peruzzi, the, 500 
Pestalozzi, J. H., 662 
Peter (Pedro, tal- 
king of Aragon : 365 ; 386, 393, 394 ; 

IV., 466, 467 
the Cruel, king of Castile, 437, 451, 456, 

467 
I., king of Hungary, 490 
king of Portugal : I., 467, 468,; II., 705, 
706 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



785 



Peter Pedro, &c.)— 

czar of Russia : I. (the Great), 615-21, 
633 ; II., 621 ; III., 630-2 

son of Frederick of Sicily, 447 

the Hermit, 345 

of Pisa, 290 

Ruffo, 383 

of Riraulx, 425 

doge of Venice, 299 

delle Vigne, 368, 372, 375, 381, 384 
Peterborough, third earl of, 603 
Petion, Jerome, 653, 655 
Petrarch, 482 
Petreius, Marcus, 196, 200 
Petronius, Maximus, emperor, 255 
Pflug, Julius, 523 
Pharnabazus, 108-10 
Pharnaces, 195, 200 
Phaylos, 126 
Pheidias, 97, 105 
Phelippeaux, A. le P. de, 664 
Philaret, patriarch, 614 
Philip of Arabia, emperor, 232, 233 

— I. (of Austria), king of Castile, 466, 511, 
512, 515 

— king of France : II. (Augustus), 360, 
366, 368, 415, 417-22, 439, 442 ; III., 435, 
440, 442, 443 ; IV. (le Bel), 394, 430, 431, 

435, 440-2, 445 ; V., 441, 442 ; VI., 435, 

436, 442, 450, 451 

— king of Macedon : 118, 122-9 : III., 
161, 162, 165, 177, 181, 182 ; V.. 183 

— king of Spain : II., 524, 532, 533, 535-7, 
543-5, 550, 553 ; III., 573 ; IV., 577, 586, 
601 ; V., 601-5, 628 

— archbishop of Cologne, 357 

— of Hesse, 519, 521, 522, 524 

— of Swabia, German king, 362-4, 366 
Philipoemen, 177, 181, 182 

Philippa, daughter of Lionel of Clarence, 475 

Philippus, 113, 114 

Philiskos of Abydos, 118 

Philocrates, 127, 128 

Philomelos, 124, 125 

Philotas, 160, 170 

Phocas, emperor, 274 

Phocion, 115, 123, 126 

Phoebidas, 113, 115 

Phraates, king of the Medes, 69, 75 

— king of Parthia, 216 
Phrynicus, 95, 97 
Phyllidas, 113, 114 
Pianchi, 43 

Piasts, the, 492, 493, 616 
Piccolomini, Prince, 563 
Pichegru, Charles, 659, 678, 680 
Pindar, 97, 166 
Pinotem I., 42 
Pioccinino, Niccolo, 479 
Pisistratus, 81, 82 
Plso, Cn. Calpurnius, 218 
Pitt, William. See Chatham 

— — the Younger, 638, 643-6, 666-9, 
675, 678, 682-4 

Pitti, Lucca, 501 

Pius (pope) : II., 482, 503, 504 ; IV., 534 ; 
V., 546, 549-51 ; VI., 660, 682 ; IX., 713 
Placidia, 251, 252 
Plancina, 218 



Plato, 108 

Plautus, 186 

Plotina, empress, 226 

Plutarch, 227 

Pole, John de la, earl of Lincoln, 464 

— Michael de la, 456 

— William de la, earl of Suffolk, 461 

— Cardinal, 532, 533 
Polignac, Prince de, 707 
Poliziano, A. A., 503 
Poltrot, Jean de, 541 
Polybius, 184, 186 
Polycrates of Samos, 45, 81, 82 
Polygnotus, 97, 105 
Polysperchon, 175 
Pomerania, Bogislav of, 562 
Pompadour, Marquise de, 638 
Pompeius, Gn. (the Great), 168, 193-200 

— — (the Younger), 201 

— Sextus, 201, 211, 212 
Poniatowski, Count, 618 
Pontius, Gaius, 152 
Pope, General, 736 

Poppo, count of Thuringia, 300 
Portland, first earl of, 610 

— third duke of, 643, 686 
Porus, 170, 171 
Potemkin, Prince G. A., 633 
Pouyer-Quertier, A. T., 754 
Pride, Colonel Thomas, 572, 583 
Priestley, Joseph, 666 

Prior, Matthew, 605 

Probus, emperor, 234 

Procopius, 246 

Prokop the Great, 478 

Protagoras, 105 

Prusias, king of Bithynia, 182 

Prussia, Prince Albert of, 745 

— Prince Frederick Charles of, 744, 746, 
749, 750 

— Prince Henry of, 646 
Psammetichus, king of Egypt : I., 43, 44 ; 

II., 44 ; III., 45 
Psusennes, 42 
Ptolemaos, 122 
Ptolemy, king of Egypt : I. (Soter), 174-7 ; 

II. (Philadelphus), 176, 178, 179 ; III. 

(Euergetes), 178 ; XIII. (Philopater), 200 

— Keraunos, 176 
Pulcheria, empress, 253 
Pulteney, William (earl of Bath), 626 
Pursin, I., 24 

— II., 25 

Pym, John, 569, 570. 

Pyrrhus king of Epirus, 154, 155, 157 

Quiroga, Antonio, 705, 706 
Quosdanowitch, P. V. yon, 660 

Rabshekeh, 66 ' 

Radetsky, Count Joseph, 713 

Radziwill, Prince Michael, 708 

Raglan, Lord, 723, 725 

Ragnar Lodbrok, 303, 304, 306, 307 

Raimond of Toulouse, 346 

— — 421 

— Berengar of Catalonia, 402 

— — of Provence, 425 
Rainald, count of Boulogne, 366, 421 

3d 



786 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Rainald of Spoleto, 371 

Rakocszy, Francis, II., 603 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 553 

Rauises, king of Egypt : EL, 40, 41, 51 ; 

III., 42 ; IV -XII., 42 
Eanulf of Aquitaine, 298 

— of Aversa, 316 
Raphael, S., 507 
Raspail, F. V., 718 
Eavaillac, Francois, 545 
Raymond, George, 555 

— See Raimond 
Re, 9 

Rea Silva, 132 

Recarred, king of the Visigoths, 279 

Reginald, sub-prior of Christ Church, 420 

Regulus, M. Atilius, 158 

Rehoboam, king of Judah, 57, 58 

Remigius, bishop of Reims, 262 

Remus, 132 

Renard, Simon, 532 

Rene 1 (the Good), of Anjou, 485 

— II., of Lorraine, 506, 507 
Requesens, Don Luis de, 537 
Retz, Cardinal de, 567, 577 
Rewbell, J. F., 656 

Rezin, 48, 64 
Rhadagais, 250 
Riario, Cardinal Piero, 502 
Rich, Edmund, 425 

Richard of Cornwall, king of the Romans, 
378, 383, 385, 388, 389, 425-7, 443 

— king' of England : I., 360, 361, 366, 397, 
414, 415, 417-419, 439 ; II., 438, 454-7 ; 
III., 463, 464 

Richelieu, Cardinal, 560, 573-5, 672 

Richildis, wife of Charles the Bald, 295, 296 

Ricimer, 255 

Ridley, Nicholas, bishop of London, 533 

Riego, Rafael del, 705 

Rienzi, Cola di, 469, 482, 483 

Rimsin, 28, 29 

Ripon, first marquis of, 757 

Rivers, Earl, 463 

Rizzio, David, 548 

Robert of Artois, 435 

— — See Robert, king of Naples 

— I., king of France, 301 

— of Gloucester, son of Henry I., 408, 409 

— Guiscard, 316, 317 

— of Jumieges, 314 

— king of Naples, 435, 447, 448, 482, 486 

— I. (Brace), king of Scotland, 431-4 

— III. (Bruce), king of Scotland, 458, 459 

— son of St. Louis, 442 
Roberts, Earl, 757, 762 
Robespierre, M. M. I., 652-6 
Roches, Peter des, 421, 423-5 
Rockingham, second marquis of, 638, 639. 

642 
Roderick, king of the Visigoths, 279 

— governor of Andalusia, 279 
Rodney, first baron, 642 
Roger of Apulia, 317 

— of Aquila, 371 

— of Loria, 393, 394 

— bishop of Salisbury, 407, 409 
—'king of Sicily: I.. 316. 317; II., 317, 

318, 348 



Rogers, John, 533 
Rohan, Cardinal, 679 
Rokycana, John, 480 
Roland, 285 

— J. M., 653, 655 

— Madame, 655 
Romanovs, the, 614 
Romanus II., emperor, 332 
Romulus, 132 

— Augustulus, 255, 256 
Rooke, Sir George, 403, 612 
Roon, Count von, 742 

Roose veldt, Theodore, American president, 

764 
Roric, 305 

Rosamund Clifford, 416 
Rosamunda, wife of Alberic, 263 
Rosebery, fifth earl of, 759, 765 
Rosecrans, W. S., 738 
Rossi, Count P. L. O., 713 
Rostopchin, Count F. W., 693 
Roth family, the, 509 
Roxana, 170, 174, 175 
Rudiger, Count F. W , 721 
Rudolf I. (of Hapsburg), emperor, 388, 

389, 392, 443-5, 448, 491, 492 

— II., emperor, 557 

Rudolf, king of Burgundy : I., 298, 299 ; 
II., 327 ; III., 340, 341 

— of Burgundy, king of France, 301 

— count of Hapsburg, 375 

— son of Rudolf I., 444, 446 

— — Albert I., 445, 446 

— — — II., 470 
Rufinus, 249 
Rufus Sulpicius, 191 

Rugilas, king of the Huns, 252-3 
Rukeija, 275 

Rupert III., Count Palatine, anti-king, 473, 
474 

— of the Rhine (Prince), 597 
Rurik, 493, 614 

Russell, Lord John (first earl), 710-12 

— Lord William, 598 
Rustum, 278 

Ruy Diaz, The Cid, 401 
Ruyter, M. A. de, 587, 588, 595 

Sabinus, Julius, 222 
Sabokon, 43 
Sabu, 28 

St. Andre\ Marshal, 540, 541 
St. Arnaud, Marshal, 723 
St. Cyr, Marshal, 690, 695 
St. Pol, Constable, 506, 507 
St. Ruth, General, 609 
St. Valery, Aymer de, 391 
Sachs, Hans, 519 
Saladin, 360, 361, 415, 418 
Salinguerra, 377, 378 

Salisbury, earl of : Richard Neville, 462. 
463 ; Robert Cecil, 556, 565 

— William Longsword, 366, 421, 423 

— third marquis of, 757, 759, 765 
Sallust, 196 

Sallustius, 245 

Saloman, bishop of Constance, 299 

Samsi Bin, 47 

Samson, 53, 54 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



787 



Samsuditani, 30 
Samsuiluna, 30 
Samuabu, 28, 30 
Samuel, 53 
Sanchia of Aragon, 365 

— of Provence, wife of Bichard of Corn- 
wall, 425 

Sancho, son of Alfonso II., 401 
Sancroft, Archbishop, 559 
Sandwich, fourth earl of, 638 
Santa Cruz, Marquis of, 554 
Santa Eosa, P. di, 727 
Sarakos, 49 

Sardanapalus. See Assurbanipul 
Saigon I.. 22, 23 

— II., 48, 65 
Sarsfield, Patrick, 609 
Sarus, 251 

Saturnius, L. Apuleius, 190 
Saul, king of Israel, 53, 54 
Savage, John, 552 
Savelli, the, 483 
Savonarola, Girolamo, 503 
Savoy, dukes and counts of — 

Amadeus : I., II., III., V., 485 ; VI., 486 ; 
VIII., 486 (see Felix V.) ; IX., 486 

Charles Emmanuel I., 558 

Humbert (count of Maurienne), I., II., 
III.. 485 

Louis, 486 

Oddo I., 485 

Peter I., 485 

Philibert I., 486 

Thomas I., 485 

Victor Amadeus II., 593, 606 
- — Boniface of, 425 

— Carignan, Eugene, prince of, 577 

— — — Francois, prince of, 577, 591, 
602-4 

Saxe, Marshal, 630 

Saxe-Weimar, 1 Bernard of, 560, 562, 563 

— — William of, 560 
Saxony, electors and kings of — 

Augustus, 524 

Frederick III., the Wise, 516, 518, 519 
Frederick Augustus III. (I.), 633, 634, 686 
John the Steadfast, 516, 519, 520 
John Frederick, 516, 520-22, 524 
John George I., 524, 559, 562, 563 

— — III., 590 
Maurice, 521-4 

— Liudolf, duke of, 319 

— Otto, duke of, 319 
Schalkbiirger, 763 
Schartlin of Burtenbach, 522 
Scherer, B. L. J., 659 
Schill, Friederich von, 691 
Schimmelpennink, Count, 680 
Schlich, Chancellor, 481 
Schwarzenberg, Prince von, 693-5, 697 
Scipio, L. Cornelius, Asiaticus, 182 

— P. Cornelius, 160, 162 

■ — — — Africanus, 162-4, 181, 182, 186 

— — — Aemilianus, 184-6, 188 
Scribonia, wife of Augustus, 215 
Scrope of Masham, Lord, 460 

— archbishop of York, 459 
Sebekhotep, 15 
Sebeknofrure, 15 



Segovia, John of, 480 
Sejanus, 219 
Selden, John, 567 
Seleucus I. (Nicator), 175-7 

— II. (Kallinicus), 178 
Seneca. L. Annaeus, 221 
Sennacherib, 41, 48, 65, 66 
Septimius, L., 200 

— Severus, emperor, 228-30 
Sergius III., pope, 302 
Sertorius, Q., 193, 194] 
Serurier, Marshal, 680 
Servetus, 517 

Servius Tullius, 133-6, 138 
Sesonchis. See Shesonch 
Sesostris I.. 13 1 

— III., 13, 14 

— See Sethos 
Seth, 2-6 
Sethos I., 40 
Setnacht, 41 
Severinus, 272 

Seymour, Sir Thomas, lord, 531 

— Jane. See Jane S. 
Sforza family, the, 508 

— Francesco, 479, 485, 486, 519, 520 

— Ludovico, 511 

Shaftesbury, first earl of, 595, 597, 598 

Shallum, 63, 67 

Shalmanezer II., 47, 62 ; III., 47 ; IV., 48, 

65 
Shelburne, second earl (first marquis of 

Lansdowne), 642, 643 
Shemaiah, 56 
Sheridan, P. H.,739, 741 
Sherman, W. T., 733, 737-41 
Sherwin, Ealph, 551 
Shesonch (Sisak, Sesonchis), 43, 56, 58 
Shrewsbury, first duke of, 600, 607, 613 
Sickingen, Franz von, 518 
Sidmouth. See Addington 
Sidney, Algernon, 598 

— Sir Philip, 538 
Sidonius Apollinaris, 255 
Siegfried, archbishop of Mainz, 344 
Siegwan-Muller, Constant in, 714 

Sieves, Abbe, 648, 655, 656, 664, 665, 673, 

703 
Sigebert, king of the Franks, 264 
Sigismund, emperor, 471, 473-81, 490, 492, 

496 

— III., king of Sweden and Poland, 616 

— count of Tyrol, 506, 509 
Sigurd Eing, 303, 304 

— Snake Eye, 303 
Silo, Q. Pompaedius, 191 
Silvanus, M. Plautius, 191 
Silvester II., pope, 335-8, 340, 390 
Simnel, Lambert, 464, 465 
Simonides, 82, 97 
Sinmuballit, 28 

Sisak. See Shesonch 
Sisigambis, 167, 169 
Siward of Northumbria, 314 

— son of Eegnar, 304 

Sixtus (pope) : IV., 502 ; V., 543, 553 . 
Skanderbeg. See Castriota 
Slavata, Count William, 558 
Smerdis, 76 



788 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Smith, Adam, 644 

— Sir Sidney, 664 
Snofru, 7, 13 
Soaemis, 231 
Socinus, Faustus, 517 

— Laelius, 517 
Socrates, 105, 108 

Soliman, caliph of Damascus, 280 

— of Saragossa, 285 
■ — See Suleiman 

Solomon, king of Israel, 42, 54-7 

Solon, 75-9, 84 

Somers, John, lord, 610 

Somerset, Protector, 530, 531 

Sophia, empress, wife of Wenzel IV., 478 

— electress of Hanover, 610, 613 

— regent of Russia, 615 

— Dorothea, wife of George I., 622 
Sophonisba, 163 

Sosilas, 160 

Sosthenes, 176 

Souham, Comte Joseph, 659 

Soult, Marshal, 680, 690, 691, 696, 697, 700 

Spartacus, 194 

Sphodrias, 114, 116 

Spinola family, 486 

— marquis of, 538 
Spurina, Vestritius, 202 
Stadion, Count von, 728 
Stael, Madame de, 662 
Stahremberg, Rudolf of, 590 
Stanhope, first earl of, 613. 622, 623 
Stanislaus (I.), Leszczynski, king of Poland, 

617, 620 

— (II.), Poniatowski, king of Poland, 632 
Stanley, Lord, 463 

Stateira, wife of Darius III., 167 

— daughter of Darius III., 172 
Staupitz, Johann von, 517 

Stephen (pope) : III., 273 ', IV., 293 ; V., 
298 ; VI., 300 

— king of England, 408-10 

— king of Hungary : I., 312, 329 ; II., 
490, 491 ; III. and IV., 491 ; V., 389, 491 

— of Hungary, brother of Bela IV., 492 

— (Batori). king of Poland, 616 

— of Blois, 345 

Stibor of Transylvania, 474 

Stilicho, 249, 250 

Stofflet, Nicolas, 656 

Strabo, Gn. Pompeius, 191 

Strachan, Sir Richard, 692 

Strafford, Thos. Wentworth, earl of, 567-9 

Straw, Jack, 455 

Strickland, 550 

Strode, William, 570 

Strongbow, Robert Fitzgilbert, 413 

Stuart, Arabella, 565 

— Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, 
636 

■ — James Francis. See James III. 

— Murdoch, 458 
Sudbury, Simon, 438, 455 
Suetonius Tranquillus, C, 219 
Suffolk, Charles Brandon, duke of, 532 

— duchess of. See Mary Tudor 
Suleiman, Sultan : II., 590 ; III,, 591 

— son of Bajezid I., 496 
— . son of Orchan, 495 



Suleiman the Turk, 494 

Sulla, L. Cornelius, 148. 189, 191-3, 196, 

203 
Sully, duke of, 544 
Sulpieius, 229 
Sumner, E. V., 736 
Sumulailu, 28 

Sunderland, third earl of, 613, 623 
Surajah Dowlah, 637 
Surrey, Henry Howard, earl of, 530 
Suvorov, A. V., 662, 663 
Svatopluk, 299 

— of Kiev, 493 
Sven Estrithson, 313 

— Forkbeard, 303, 310, 311, 335 
Swinford, Catherine, 461 
Syagrius, 261 

Symmachus, 257 
Syphax, 163 

Tachos, 120 

Tacitus, C. Cornelius, 218-20 

Tahaka, 43 

Tallard, Marshal, 603 

Talleyrand-P£rigord, C. M. de, 649. 662, 

664, 672, 681, 683, 688-90, 698, 703 
Tallien, J. L., 656 
Tamerlane, 496 
Tanaquil, 133 
Tancred of Antioch, 346, 347 

— of Hauteville, 316 

— of Sicily, 362 
Tanutamon, 43 
Tarif, 279 
Tarik, 279, 288 
Tarpeia, 132 
Tarquinius Priscus, 133 

— Superbus, 134 
Tassilo of Bavaria, 287 
Tefnacht, 43 

Tejas, king of the Ostrogoths, 260 

Telesinus, Pontius, 191, 193 

Teleutias, king of Sparta, 112 

Teli, 10 

Tellez, Leonard, 468 

Temple, Sir William, 596 

— Earl, 638 
Terence, 186 
Tetepe, 7 
Tetzel, John, 517 
Thaddeus of Suessa, 380 
Thais, 169 
Thankmar, 322, 323 
Thebe, 119 
Theispes, 69 

Themistocles, 85-8, 91, 92, 95, 96, 98 
Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, 410, 

411 
Theodelinde, wife of Autharis, 263 
Theodohat, king of the Ostrogoths, 258, 259 
Theodora, mother of Crescentius, 302, 333 

— daughter of Kantakuzenos, 495 
Theodore, abbot of Croyland, 306 
Theodoric, king of the Franks, 263, 264 

— the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, 256-8, 
262, 292 

— I., king of the Visigoths, 251, 254 

— II., king of the Visigoths, 255 

— Count, 286 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



789 



Theodosius I. (the Great) emperor, 237, 248, 
249 

— II., emperor, 239, 252, 254 

— general in Britain, 246, 247 
Theophano, wife of Otto II., 331-6 
Theramenes, 108 

Thiers, L. A., 715, 751, 753, 754 
Thistlewood, Arthur, 710 
Thomas of Cellano, 371 

— of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester, 456 
Thomas, G. H., 738 

Thoralf, 308 

Thou, J. A. de, 574 

Thrasybulus, 108 

Throgmorton, Francis, 551 

Thugut, Baron F. M., 670 

Thuringia, Louis IV., landgrave of, 369 

Thurkil of East Anglia, 312 

Thurn, Count, 558 

Thurstan, archbishop of York, 409 

Thusuma, 28 

Thutmosis I., 39 

— III., 39 
Thymbrotus, 109 

Tiberius (I.), emperor, 209, 214-19 

— (II.!, emperor, 274 
Tichborne, Chidiock, 552 
Tiepolo, 489 

— Vieri, 375 
Tiglath Pileser I., 46 

— — II., 48 

Tigranes, king of Armenia, 195 

— • Persian general, 93 
Tilly, Count J. T. von, 559, 560, 562, 563 
Timesitheus, 232 
Timocrates of Rhodes, 109 
Timoleon of Corinth, 123, 157 
Timophanes of Corinth, 123 
Timotheus, 115, 123 
Timur, 496 
Tirhakah, 43 
Tirhaqua, 48, 49 
Tiribazus, 110, 111 
Tissaphernes, 109 
Titus, emperor, 219, 222, 223 

— Tatius, 132 
Togo, Admiral, 764 
Tokoly, Count, 590 
Tolmides, 101, 104 
Tone, Wolfe, 666, 668 
Tooke, Home, 638, 667 
Torquatus, Titus Manlius, 151 
Torquemada, Juan de, 480 
Torre, della, the, 485 

— — Guido, 446 
Tostig, 314 

Totila, king of the Ostrogoths, 259, 260 
Townshend, Charles, 639, 640 

— — second viscount, 622, 623 
Tracy, William, 412 

Trajan, emperor, 225-7 
Trebonius, G., 202 
Trelawney, bishop of Bristol, 599 
Tresilian, C. J., 455 
Trochu, L. J., 751, 752 
Tromp, Martin, 579 

— Cornells van, 588, 595 

Tudor, Jasper, earl of Reenbecke, 463 
Tullus Hostilius, 132, 133, 135 



Turenne, Marshal, 576, 586-8 

Turgot, A. R. J., 648 

Turner, bishop of Ely, 599 

Tyler, Wat, 455 

Tyrconnel, Richard Talbot, earl of, 609 

Tyrone, Hugh O'Neill, earl of, 555 

Ubba, 307 

Uberti, Farinati degli, 386 
Udo, Count, 323 
Uhtred of Northumbria, 312 
Uldin, king of the Huns, 253 
Ulfilas, 246 
Ulpiau, 231 

Ulrica, Eleanora, queen of Sweden, 620 
Ulrich, bishop of Augsburg, 329 
Unos, 10 

Urban (pope) : II., 345 ; IV., 386, 387, 427 ; 
V., 471, 473, 475, 484 ; VI., 454, 475, 484 
Urengur, 24 
Usaphais, 5 
Userkef, 9 
Usher, Captain, 098 
Uzziah, 48, 63 

Valence, Aymer de, earl of Pembroke, 432 
Valens, emperor, 245, 246, 248 
Valentinian, I., emperor, 245 

— II., emperor, 247, 248 

— III., emperor, 239, 251, 252, 255 
Valerian, emperor, 233 
Vandamme, D. R., 659, 695 

Vane, Sir Henry, 580-2 
Varrazzi, the, 398 
Varro, C. Terentius, 161 
Varus, Quintilius, 214, 218 
Vauban, Marshal, 586, 004 
Veleda 222 

Vend6me, Marshal, 586, 603-5 
Vercingetorix, 198 
Vere, Robert de, 456 
Vergniaud, P. V., 652, 654 
Vernon, Sir Edward, 626 
\erus, L. Aelius, 227 

— L. Aurelius, 228 
Vespasian, emperor, 219, 222, 223 
Victor, C. P., 690, 691 

— Amadeus II., king of Sardinia (king of 
Sicily), 593, 606 

— — III., 659 

■ — Emmanuel I., king of Sardinia, 705 

— — II., king of Italy, 713, 726-9, 744, 
751 

Victoria, queen of England, 712, 725, 758, 

759, 761, 763, 765 
Vieuville, Marquis de la, 574 
Villars, Marshal, 586, 603, 604 
Villele, Comte de, 705 
Villeneuve, Admiral, 664, 681 
Villeroi, Marshal, 602, 603 
Vincent de Paul, St., 534 
Vinci, Leonardo da, 521 
Vindex, G. Julius, 221 
Vipsania Agrippina, wife of Tiberius, 215 
Viret, Pierre, 525 
Virgil, 156 
Viriathus, 185 
Visconti family, the, 469, 470, 485, 499 

— Azzo, 485 



790 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Visconti, Bernabo, 485 

— Filippo Maria, 479, 487 

— Galeazzo, 447 

— Gian Galeazzo, 473, 485 

— Giovanni, 485 

— Lucchmo, 485 

— Matteo, 446, 485 

— Ubaldo, 376 

— Valentina, 485 
Vitellius, emperor, 219, 222 
Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths, 259 
Vitiza, king of the Visigoths, 279 
Vladimir of Russia, 493 
Vladislaus IV., king of Poland, 616 
Voltaire, F. M. A. de, 628, 632, 637 
Vortigern, 252 

Wade, Marshal, 623 
Waldrada, 297 
Wallace, William, 431 
Wallenstein, Albert of, 560, 561, 563 
Wallia, king of the Visigoths, 251 
Walpole, Sir Robert, 622-6, 635 
Walsingham, Sir Francis, 551, 552 
Walter of Contances, 417 

— the Penniless, 345 

— of Troja, 365 
Walworth, John, 455 
Warbeck, Perkin, 464-6 
Wareime, John, earl of Surrey, 430 
Warwick, earl of, Thomas Beauchamp, 456 

— — Richard Neville, 462, 463 

— — Edward Plantagenet, 464, 466 
Washington, George, 640, 641 

Welf of Bavaria, Count, 293 

— VI., 349, 359 

— Henry, 298 
Wellesley, marquess, 692 

Wellington, first duke of, 690, 691, 696, 697, 

699-701, 707, 711, 712 
Wenzel the Holy, prince of Bohemia, 326 

— I., king of Bohemia, 377 

— II., king of Bohemia, 444-6 

— III., king of Bohemia, 445, 492 

— IV., king of Bohemia, emperor, 471, 
473, 474, 478, 485 

Werder, Count August von, 753 
Werner, archbishop of Mainz, 443 
Westmoreland, Charles Neville, earl of, 549 
Weston, Richard, 569 
Weyland, 306 

White, bishop of Peterborough, 599 
Whitelocke, Bulstrode, 582 
Whitgift, John, 551, 556 
Whitworth, Earl, 677 
Widekind, 285-7 
Wilkes, John, 638-40 

William I., German emperor, 627, 742-4, 746, 
748, 749, 751, 752, 754 
■ — II., German emperor, 765 

— king of England : I., 314, 315, 345, 
405 ; II., 405 ; III., 587, 588, 593, 595-7, 
599-601, 607-11, 615 ; IV., 711, 712 

— son of Henry I., 407 

William the Lion, king of Scotland, 414, 430 

— I., king of Sicily, 318 

— II., king of Sicily, 318, 360, 410 



William of Apulia,' 317 

— Clito, 407 

■ — the Iron Arm, of Hauteville, 316 

— count of Holland, 367 

- — king of the Romans, 380, 382, 383 

— son of Henry the Lion, 359 

— archbishop of Mainz, 328 

■ — of Orange, the Silent, 535-8, 551 

— — V., 646, 659 
Willibrord, 271, 272 
Wilbgis of Mainz, 336-40 
Wilmington, earl of, 635 
Wimpffen, E. F. de., 751 
Winchelsey, Archbishop, 431, 432 
Windischgratz, Prince von, 721 
Winfrid. See Boniface 
Winkelried, Arnold von, 472 
Witt, John de, 587, 595, 596 
Wittgenstein, Field-Marshal, 694 
Wolfe, James, 641 

Wolseley, Garnet, viscount, 758 
Wolsey, Cardinal, 527-9 
Woodville, Richard, 463 

— See Elizabeth 

Worcester, Thomas Percy, ear] of, 458 
Wrangel, Count Friedrich von, 743 
Wulfstan, archbishop of York, 309 
Wurmser, Field-Marshal, 660 
Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 532 
Wycliffe, John, 438, 453-5, 476 
Wykeham, William of, 456 
Wyndham, William, 669, 678, 684 

Xanthippds, 158 
Xavier, St. Francis, 534 
Xenophon, 70, 109, 113 
Xerxes, 87, 92, 95, 96, 100, 169 

Yorck, General, 694 

York. Edmund, duke of, 456, 461 

— Frederic Augustus, duke of, 659, 663, 
667 

— Richard, duke of, 461-3 

— — (the Little Prince), 464 
Ypres, William of, 409 

Ypsilanti, Alexander and Demetrius, 706 

Zabarella, Francesco, 476 
Zachariah, king of Israel, 63 

— — Judah, 63 
Zachrias I., pope, 27 2 
Zedekiah, king of Judah, 67 
Zeid, 275 

Zeno, emperor, 256, 258 

Zenobia, 233, 234 

Zerabbabel, 68 

Zet, 5 

Zeuxis, 122 

Ziethen, H. A. von, 631 

Zimri, 58, 61 

Ziska, John, 478 

Zoe (Palaeologus), empress, 493 

Zoroaster, 38 

Zoser I., 7 

— II., 7 
Zwentibald, 298-300 
Zwingli, Huldreich, 516 



II.— GENERAL INDEX 



Aachen, 288, 291 ; Congress at, 705. See 

Aix-la-Chapelle 
Academy, French, 586 
Achaean League, 176, 183 
Adrianople, Treaty of, 707. See Index 3 
Aequi, 149 
Aetolian League, 176 
Africa (Roman province), 163, 185-9, 200, 

252, 259 
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of (1668), 587, 596 ; 

(1748) 630, 636 
Akkadians, 18-21 

Alexandria, 168, 277. See Index 3 
Algiers, 521, 708 
Alt-Ranstadt, 617 
Amboise, 539, 541, 547 
Amiens, Mise of, 427 ; Peace of, 673-7 
Amorites, 22, 28 
Anabasis, the, 109 
Appian Way, 153 
Apulia, 316, 385 
Arabs, 274 
Aragon, 400, 466, 510. See Alfonso, 

Ferdinand, Peter, in Index 1 
Armed Neutrality (1781), 642 ; (1806) 675 
Armenians, 31, 35 
Arras, Treaty of, 507 
Aryans, 35, 37 

Asia Minor, 31 ; Roman province, 185 
Assyrians, Bk. I. ch. ii.-iv. 
Athens, 81, Bk. I. ch. vi., vii., x. 
Augsburg, 509 ; Confession, 520 ; Interim, 

523 ; Treaty of, 524 
Austria, 348. See Table of Contents and 

Austria, Dukes of ; and Ferdinand, 

Francis, Leopold, Mettemich, in Index 1 
Austrian Succession, War of the, 629 
Avars, 289 
Aversa, 316 
Avignon, popes at, 475 

Babel, 28 

Babylon, Bk. I. ch. ii., 67, 173 
Bank of England, 609 ; banks, German, 509 
Barcelona, 401 ; Treaty of, 574 
Basel, Council of, 479 ; Treaty of, 659, 667 
Bativi 222 

Bavaria, 287, 293, 343, 348. See Index 1 
Bavarian Succession, War of the, 634 
Baylen, capitulation of, 690 
Bee, Concordat of, 407 
Belgium, 538, 708 
Bender, 618 

Berlin, Treaty of (1742), 629, 635 ; (1878) 
757 



Bill of Rights, 608 

Bishops' War, 569 

Black Death, 436 

Blanketeers, 709 

Boeotian War, 114 ; League, 116 

Bohemia, 321, 343, 389, 445, 478, 504, 522, 

561 ; and see Boleslav, Ottokar, Wenzel, in 

Index 1 
Brandenburg. See Index 1 
Breda, Peace of, 595 
Breslau, Treaty of, 635 
Bretigny, Treaty of, 436-7, 452 
Britain, 198, 220, 227, 252-3 
Brittany, 262, 287, 301 
Bruges, 398 
Bulgarians, 258, 756 

Burgundy, 262, 294 ff ., 343, 505. See Index 1 
Byzantine Empire. See Eastern Empire 

Cabal, the, 595 

Cabinet, the, 610-11, 622 

Cambrai, Treaty of (1508), 512 ; (1529) 520 

Camisards, 592 

Campania, 342 

Campo Formio, Treaty of, 660-1, 668, 670 

Canada, 631, 640-1 

Canossa, 342 

Carlowitz, Peace of, 590-1, 615 

Carthage, 73, 79, 96, Bk. I. ch. ix., 184 

Castile. See Aragon 

Cateau Cambresis, Treaty of, 535 

Cato Street Conspiracy, 710 

Charter, the Great, 422 ; Confirmation of, 

431 
Cherasco, Treaty of, 659 
Chinon, Treaty of, 421 
Cimbri, 189 

Cintra, Convention of, 690 
Clair sur Epte, Treaty of, 301 
Clarendon, Constitution and Assize of, 411, 

413 
Coloni, 242 

Concordat, the Gallican 
Constance, Council of, 476 ; Diet of, 358 
Constantinople, 236, 240, 258. See Eastern 

Empire 
Convention Parliament, the, 583 
Copenhagen, Treaty of, 616. See Index 3 
Corcyra, 101 

Counter Reformation, 533, 545 
Crespy, Treaty of, 521 
Crete, 33-4, 38, 194, 707 
Crimean War, 723 

Crusades. See Table of Contents, Bk. n. 
Cyprus, 33, 77, 94 



793 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Damascus, 60. See Index 3 

Danegelt, 310 

Danes, Bk. II. ch. iii. 

Defenestration of Prague, 558 

Delos, Confederacy of, 94 

Denmark, 302, 321, 351, 687, 743. See 

Danes ; and Christian, Frederick, Harold, 

in Index 1 
Diadocui, the, 174 
Dorians, 78 
Dover, Treaty of, 596 
Dragonnades, 592 
Dresden, Treaty of, 629. 636. See Index 3 

Eastern Empire, 237, 247-8, 253, 258, 274, 
281, 317, 335, 345. See Constantinople 

Edinburgh, Treaty of, 547 

Egypt, Bk. i. ch. i.— iii.. 67, 162, 178, 200, 
277, 395, 663, 707, 758, 760. See Ptolemy, 
Index 1 

Epidaurus, Congress at, 706 

Estaples, Treaty of, 465 

Ethiopians, 43 

Etruscans, 79 

Evangelical Union, 556 

Exclusion Bill, 597 

Family Compact, 625 

Fashoda, 760 

Ferrara, Treaty of, 479 

Florence, Bk. II. ch. xiv., xv., 508. See 

Index 3, and Medici in Index 1 
Fontainebleau, Treaty of (1807), 687 ; (1814), 

698 
Fort Sumter, 732 
France. See Table of Contents, and Charles, 

Francis, Louis, Napoleon, Philip, in 

Index 1 
Frankfort, Treaty of, 754 
Franks, 233, Bk. n. ch. i. 
Fronde, the, 575 
Fussen, Peace of, 629 

Gastein, Convention of, 744 

Gaul, 159, 185, 197, 244, 262 

Geneva, 516, 525 

Genoa, 486 

Germans, 214, Bk. I. ch. xiii., 250, &c, 292 

Germany, 272-3, 295, 299, 443, 564, 694, 
716. See "the Empire" (Bk. n.) and 
Prussia, Austria, &c, in Table of Contents 

Ghent, Treaty of, 537 

Ghibellines, 348, Bk. II. ch. vii., viii. 

Golden Bull (1), 478 ; (2) 491 

Goths, 233, 248 ff. 

Granada, 280, 403, 510 

Grand Bemonstrance, 570 

Greece, Bk. I. ch. v.-vii., x., xi. ; 706-7 

Greeks, 33 

Guelfs. See Ghibellines 

Gueux, 536 

Habeas Corpus Act, 598, 709 
Hanover, 621 ; Treaty of, 625 
Hansa, the, Bk. n. ch. ix. 
Hegira, the, 276 
Hernicans, 150 
Hieroglyphics, 4, 20 
Hittites, 30 



Hohenstauffen, the, 347, Bk. II. ch. vi.-vii. 
Holland, 343, 535-6, 579, 587, 596, 666-7, 

708 
Holy Alliance, 704 
Hubertsburg, Treaty of, 631, 638 
Hundred Years' War, 435 
Hungarians, 299, 320-1, 328 
Hungary, 343, 445, 490, 504, 590, 716, 720. 

See Andrew, Bela, Ladislaus, Matthias, 

Stephen, in Index 1 
Huns, 247, 253 

India, 37, 170-2, 636, 757 ; Mutiny in, 725 

Indo-Germans, Bk. I. ch. iii. 

Indulgence, Declarations of, 594, 599 

Indulgences, 517 

Instrument of Government, 580 

Interregnum, the, 388 

Iranians, 69. See Persia 

Ireland, 271, 304, 410, 413, 457, 465, 550, 

555, 568, 579, 608-9, 645, 668, 675, 711, 

759 

Jacquerie, the, 452 

Janissaries, 494, 707 

Jansenists, 591 

Jassy, Treaty of, 646 

Jerusalem, 53 ff, 222, 346, 360. See 

Crusades 
Jesuits, 533, 551 
Jews, Bk. I. ch. iv., 227 

Kalisch, Treaty of, 694 

Karlowitz. See Carlowitz 

Keys, Army of the, 371 

Kiev, 493 

Kutschuk Kainardji, Treaty of, 633 

Laibach, Congress of, 706 

Latins, 131, 150-1 

League of Princes, 634 

Leipzig Interim, 523. See Index 3 

Lewes, Mise of, 427. See Index 3 

Licinian Laws, 139 

Limerick, Treaty of, 609. See Index 3 

Lodi, Peace of, 490. See Index 3 

Lollards, 454-6, 460 

Lombard League, 356, 373. See Milan 

Lombards, 262-4 

London, Treaty of (or Westminster), 1674, 
588, 597 ; Conference (1827-8), 707 ; Con- 
ference (1830-1), 708; Protocol 1832) 
743 ; Great Fire of, 595 

Long Parliament, 569 

Lords Appellant, 456 

Lords Ordainers, 432 

Liibeck, 398 ; Peace of, 561 

Luneville, Peace of, 674 

Lydia, 80 

Maccabees, 179, 195 

Macedonia, 121 ff., Bk. I. ch. x„ xi. 

Madrid, Treaty of (1525), 519 ; (1803) 687 

Margraves, 289 

Mayors of the Palace, 268 

Medes, Bk. I. ch. v. 

Megalopolis, 117 

Mercen, Treaty of, 295 

Methuen Treaty, 612 



GENERAL INDEX 



793 



Mexico, the French in, 747 

Milan. See Index 3, and Sforza, Visconti, in 

Index 1 
Mise of Amiens, 427 
Mongols, 395, 491, 493 
Moors, 280, 400 ft., 468, 510 
Municipal Reform Act, 712 
Mycenae, 77 

Nantes, Edict of, 544, 592 

Naples, 318, Bk. n. ch. viii., ch. xiv. ; 511, 

705. See Francis, Ferdinand, Louis, in 

Index 1 
National Debt, 609 
Navarre, 467 
Navigation Act, 579 

Netherlands, Revolt of, 535. See Holland 
Nineveh, Bk. i. ch. iv. 

Normandy, 301, 406, 419, 462. See Index 1 
Normans or Norsemen, 301, Bk. n. ch. iii. 
Northampton, Assize of, 414 ; Treaty of, 434 
Norway, 303, 351, 620 
Novgorod, 398 
Nuremberg, Peace of, 520 
Nymphenburg, Treaty of, 628 
Nymwegen, Peace of, 589, 593, 597 
Nystadt, Treaty of, 620 

Oliva, Peace of, 614 

Olynthus, 126 ; Olynthian War, 112 

Ostrogoths, 256-60 

Palestine, Bk. I. ch. iv., 179, 195, 344, 369, 

372, 722. See Crusades 
Paris, Treaty of (1763), 631, 638, 643 ; 

(1815), 703; (1856), 725; (1871), 753. See 

Index 3 
Parliament. 426-7, 435, 437-8, 566, 569 
Partition, Treaty of (1), 601, 610 ; (2) 610 
Passau, Treaty of, 524, 561 
Pecquigny, Treaty of, 463 507 
Peloponnesian War, 106-7 
Persia, 35-8, Bk. I. ch. v., vi. ; 119, ch. x. ; 

245, 277. See Artaxerxes, Chosroes, 

Darius, in Index 1 
Peterloo Massacre, 709 
Petersburg, 618 
Petition of Bight, 567 
Phocians, 124, 127 
Phrygians, 35 
Pilgrimage of Grace, 529 
Pirates, 194, 520 
Pisa, Council of, 475, 486 
Poland, 492, 505, 615, 633, 708 
Poor Law, 565 
Port Royal, 591-2 
Portsmouth, Treaty of, 764 
Portugal, 401, 467, 687, 750. See Alfonso 

and John, Index 1 
Poynings' Law, 463 
Pragmatic Sanction, 625 
Prague, Treaty of, 747. See Index 3 
Pressburg, Treaty of (1491), 509; (1806), 

682, 688 
Protestants, 520 
Prussia, 343, 348, 587-8, Bk. m. ch. ix., 

653-4 
Puritans, 550 
Pyrenees, Treaty of, 577. See Index 3 



Radicals, 710 

Radstadt, Treaty of, 606 

Rastadt, Treaty of, 661 

Reformation, the, Bk. in. ch. i.-ii. 

Reform Bill, the, 711 

Restitution, Edict of, 561 

Ripon, Pacification of, 569 

Rois Faineants, 264 

Rome, Treaty of, 744 

Roncaglia, Diet of, 354 

Roses, Wars of the, 462 

Rubicon, the, 199 

Rump, the, 572, 5S2 

Russia. See Ivan, Peter, Catherine, in 

Index 1 
Ryswyk, Peace of, 593, 601, 607, 009 

Sabines, 131 

Sacred War, 125, 128 

St. Bartholomew Massacre, 542 

St. Germain, Treaty of, 542 

St. Helena, 701 

St. Petersburg. See Petersburg 

Samnites, 151-3 

San Germano, Treaty of, 372 

San Stefano Treaty, 756 

Saragossa, 401. See Index 3 

Savoy. See Victor an! Savoy, Index 1 

Saxons, 233, 284-6 ; Emperors, Bk. n. ch. iv. 

Saxony. See Index 1 

Schleswig-Holstein, 321, 743 

Schmalkalden, League and War of, 520-2 

Schonbnmn, Treaty of, 684 

Scotland, Union with, 613 

Semites, 18 ff., 23, 49, 274 

Senlis, Treaty of, 510 

Settlement, Act of, 610 

Seven Years' War, 630 

Seville, Treaty of, 646 

Shiites, 278 

Ship-money, 568 

Sicily, 79, 107, 158, 162, 317, 348, 385, 393 

Silesian War (1), 628 ; (2), 629 

Sistowa, Treaty of, 646 

Sonderbund, the, 714 

Spain, 157-60, 185, 201, 279, 285, 373, 

Bk. ii. ch. ix., 437 ; Bk. n. ch. xh, 510, 

538, 553, 705. See Ferdinand ani Philip, 

Index 1 
Spanish Succession, War of, Bk. n. ch. vii. 
Sparta, 81, 118, Bk. I. ch. viii. 
Stamp Act, 639 
Stockholm, Treaty of, 620 
Sumerians, 18-21 
Sunnites, 278 
Supremacy, Act of, 546 
Swabian League, 509 
Sweden, 303, 343, 560-4, 614-20. See 

Frederick and Gustavus, Index 1 
Switzerland, 343, 448, 472, 507, 663, 713 
Syracuse, 107, 157 

Syria, 35, 60 ff., 80, 178, 182, 195, 348, 707 
Szegedin, Treaty of, 497 

Tauroggen, Treaty of, 694 

Teschen, Peace of, 634 

Test Act, 596, 711 

Teutones, 189 

Thebes (Egypt), 12, 16 ; (Greece) 113 ff., 124 

Thirty Years' War, Bk. in. ch. iv. 



794 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Thorn, Peace of, 505 

Tilsit, Treaty of, 68G-7 

Tolentino, Treaty of, 660 

Tories, 598, 612 

Traven thai, Peace of, 617 

Trent, Council of, 521-3, 534 

Triple Alliance (1668), 586-7 ; (1717), 623 

(1788), 646 
Troppau, Congress of, 706 
Troy, 32, 38, 77 
Troyes, Treaty of, 461 
Turks, 494 ft*., 504, 589-91 

Uniformity, Acts of, 531, 546 
United Provinces. See Holland 
Usedoni, 561 
Utica, 185 

Utrecht, Peace of, 605-6, 613, 626, 628 ; 
Union of, 538 

Vandals, 250-9 
Vassy, Massacre of, 541 
Venice, 255, 362-3, 486-90, 662 
Verdun Treaty, 294 



Vereeniging, Treaty of, 763 

Verona, Diet of, 334 

Versailles, Treaty of, 643 

Vervins, Treaty of, 544, 555 

Vienna, Treaty of (1731), 625 ; (1809), 691 ; 

(1864), 744 ; Congress of, 698-99, 703-4 . 

See Index 3 
Vikings, 304-5 

Villafranca, Treaty of, 729-30 
Visigoths, 248 
Vossem, Treaty of, 588 

Walijnoford, Treaty of, 410 
Welau, Treaty of, 587 
Wends, 321, 326 
Wenelo, Peace of, 646 
Westminster, Treaty of, 588, 597 
Westphalia, Peace of, 538, 564, 573, 575, 587 
Whigs, 598, 612 
Winter King, the, 559 
Wisby, 398 

Wittenberg, capitulation of, 522 
Worms, Concordat of, 342 ; Diet of, 518 ; 
Treaty of, 635 



III.— INDEX OF BATTLES, SIEGES, ETC. 



Aboukir, 664 

— Bay, 664, 668 
Abraham, Plains of, 641 
Acre: (1191) 360; (1799) 663, 664 
Actium, 204, 213 
Adrianople, 248 
Aegates, 108 
Aegospotami, 107 
Agincourt, 460 
Agosta, 588 
Ai, 52 
Ajalon, 52 
Alalia, 79 
Alarcos, 403 
Albuera, 696 
Alessandria, 357 
Alexandria, 675 
Aljubarrota, 467. 468 
Allenstein, 685 
Allia, 149 
The Alma, 723 
Almanza, 604 
Alnwick, 414 
Amphipolis, 106 
Angora, 496 
Antietam, 736 
Antioch, 346 
Aphek, 53 
Aquileia, 232 
Arbela, 168 
Areola, 660, 664 
Arcot, 636 
Arginusae, 107 
Arpad, 48 
Artaxata, 195 
Artemisium, 90 
Ascalon, 347 
Aspem, 691 

Assandun (Ashdown), 311 
Asti, 249 
Auerstadt, 684 
Auray, 452 
Ausculum, 155 
Aussig, 478 
Austerlitz, 681-3 

Badajoz, 696 
Baecula, 162 
Balaclava, 724 
Ball's Bluff, 734 
Bannockburn, 422 
Bar-sur-Aube, 697 
Barossa, 696 
Bautzen, 694 



Beaumont, 751 

Beda, 276 

Benevento, 388 

Biethen, 323 

Blenheim, 603, 612, 627 

Blore Heath, 462 

Bocholt, 285 

Borodino, 693 

Bosworth, 464 

Bouvines, 366, 421, 439 

Bovianum, 153 

Boyne, the, 609 

Bozra, 278 

Bramham Moor, 459 

Bravalla, 303 

Breitenfeld, 562 

Brenta, the, 299 

Brescia: (siege) 375 ; (battle) 473 

Brienne, 697 

Brunanburgh, 308, 309 

Budweis, 559 

Bull Run : (1861) 733 ; (1862) 736 

Bunker's Hill, 641 

Bury St. Edmunds, 414 

Byzantium, 128 

— See Constantinople 

Cabira, 195 

Calais, 436, 533 

Calcutta, 637 

Cambuskenneth, 431 

Camperdown, 668 

Cannae : (B.C. 216) 161 ; (a.d. 1019) 316 

Cape Finisterre, 636 

— St. Vincent, 668 
Capua, 162 
Carberry Hill, 549 
Carchemish, 44, 67 
Carpi, 602 
Carrhae, 199, 201 
Carthage, 184, 259 

Cassano: (1259)385; (1799)662, 
Catalaunian Plains, 254 
Caudine Forks, 152 
Chaerone, 192 
Chaeronea, 129, 165 
Chalcedon, 236 
Chamaubert, 697 
Champion's Hill, 737 
Chancellors ville, 737 
Charenton, 576 
Chateau Gaillard, 419 

— Thierry, 697 
Chattanooga, 738 



796 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



(394) 110 



Chiari, 602 

Chickahominy, 735 

Chickamauga Creek, 738 

Chioggia, war of, 489 

Chocziin, 616 

Cholovein, 618 

Chotusitz, 629 

Ciudad Eodrigo, 696 

Civitella, 316 

Clissow, 617 

Cnidus, the, 110 

Cold Harbour, 739 

Constantinople: (1204)363; (1453)498 

Copenhagen : (1801) 675 ; (1807) 687 

Coracesium, 195 

Corbiesdale, 579 

Corinth, 183 

Coronea: (447) 104; 

Cortenuova, 375 

Corunna, 690 

Cotrona, 334 

Courtrai, 441 

Crannon, 175 

Craonne, 697 

Crecy, 435, 450 

Crefeld, 630 

Cremona, 602 

Crevant, 462 

Crimisus, 157 

Culloden, 636 

Cunaxa, 109 

Custozza, 746 

Cynoscepale, 182 

Cyzicus, 195 

Czaslau, 558 

Damascus, 48, 64 ; (1147) 348 

Damietta, 367 

Delium, 106 

Denain, 606 

Demiewitz, 695 

Dermbach, 746 

Detmold, 286, 292 

Dettingen, 629, 635 

Dijon, 262 

Dol, 414 

Dorrlaeum, 346 

Downs, the, 595 

Dresden, 695 

Dreux, 541 

Drogheda, 579 

Dunbar: (1296)430; (1650)579 

Dunes, the, 582 

Durazzo, 317 

Dyle, the, 299 

Ebelsberg, 691 

Eckmuhl, 691 

Eddington, 307 

Edessa, 347, 348 

Edgehill, 570 

Eger, 563 

Engen, 673 

Espagnol-sur-Mer, les (Winchelsea), 436 

Essling, 691 

Eupatoria, 724 

Eurymedon, 96 

Evesham, 427 

Eylau, 685 



Fair Oaks, 735 

Falkirk : (1298), 431 ; (1746) 636 

Farnham, 308 

Fehrbellin, 588, 614, 627 

Firket, 760 

"First of June, the," 667 

Five Forks, 741 

Fleurus: (1690), 593 ; (1794)658,667 

Florence, 520 

Foggia, 384 

Fontenay: (841) 294 

Fontenoy: (1745) 636 

Fomovo, 511 

Fortore, 315 

Fraustadt, 617 

Fredericksburg, 736 

Friederichshall, 620 

Friedland, 685 

Fuentes d'Onoro, 696 

Gaines Mills, 735 
Garigliano, the, 302 
Gemblours, 537 
Gettysburg, 737 
Gollheim, 445 
Grandson, 507 
Granicus, the, 166 
Grossbeeren, 695 
Grossjager, 630 
Guinegate : (1479) 507 

Haliartus, 109 
Hammelburg, 746 
Hauau, 696 
Harfleur, 460 
Hastings, 315, 406 
Heraclea Miroa, 158 
Himera, 92, 157 
Hippo, 252 
Hittin, 360 
Hochkirch, 630 
Hochst, 559 
Hohenfriedberg, 629 
Hohenlinden, 674 
Ilomildon Hill, 458 



Inkerman, 724 
Ipsus, 175, 177 
Issus, the, 167 
Ivry, 544 

Jackson, 737 
Jarnac, 541 
Jena, 684 ' 
Jericho, 52 

Jerusalem: (586 B.C.) 67 
(1099) 346; (1187) 360 

Kadesh, 41 
Kappel, 516 
Katzbach, the, 695 
Kenesaw, 740 
Kesselsdorf, 629 
Khartoum, 758, 760 
Killala, 668 
Kissingen, 746 
Kolin, 630 
Koniggriitz, 746 



(70 A. P.) 222 



INDEX OF BATTLES, SIEGES, ETC. 797 



Kossovo: (1389)495; (1449)497 
Kulm, 695 
Kunersdorf, 631 
Kuropedion, 176 

LADYSMITH, 762 

La Fere Champenoise, 697 

La Hogue, 593 

Langside, 549 

Laon, 697 

La Rochelle, 567, 574 

La Rothiere, 697 

Las Navas de Tolosa, 403 

Laupen, 472 

Lech, the, 563 

Lechaeurn, 110 

Lechfeld, 329 

Legnano, 357, 358 

Leipzig (Breitenfeld), 562 

Leipzig: (1813) 695, 696 

Lepanto, 590 

Lerida, 200 

Leucas, 115 

Leuctra, 114-6 

Lexington, 641 

Ley den, 537 

Ligny, 700 

Lille, 604 

Lincoln : (1141) 409 ; (1217) 424 

Lipan, 480 

Lissa, 747 

Lobositz, 630 

Lodi, 660 

Londonderry, 608 

Longwy, 654 

Lowestoft, 595 

Lucknow, 726 

Liitzen : (1632) 563 ; (1813) 694 

Magdeburg, 523, 562 

Magenta, 728 

Magnesia, 182 

Maidstone, 572 

Majuba Hill, 759 

Malplaquet, 604 

Malvern Hill, 735 

Mantinea: (418) 107; (362) 119, 120 

Marchfeld: (1260)389; (1260) 492; (1278) 

444 
Marengo, 673, 674 
Marignano, 519 
Marston Moor, 571, 578 
Meaux, 461 
Medina, 276 
Megiddo, 42, 67 
Meloria, 378 
Messana, 158 
Metaurus, the, 162 
Methven, 432 
Metz 750 

Milan: (1158)353,354; (1161)355,356 
Millesinio, 659 
Milvian Bridge, 236 
Minden : (1679) 589 ; (1759) 631 
Mirebeau, 419 
Mbckern, 696 
Mohacs, 591 
Molara, 486 
Mollwitz, 628 



Moncontour, 541 
Mondovi, 659 
Montaperti, 386, 487 
Montebello, 728 
Montenotte, 659 
Montereau, 697 
Monte Rotondo, 748 
Montmirail, 697 
Mookerheide, 537 
Morat, 507 
Morgarten, 449, 472 
Mortimer's Cross, 463 
Mosskirch, 673 
Miihlberg, 522 
Miihldorf : (1257) 389 : 
Munda, 201 
Mycale, 93 
Mylae: (262 B.C.) 158; 



(1322) 448, 449 



(36 B.C.) 212 



Nafels, 472 
Najera, 467 
Nancy, 507 
Naples, 383 
Narva, 617 
Naseby, 571, 578 
Naulochus, 212 
Navaretta, 437, 467 
Navarino, 706, 707 
Naxos, 115 
Neerwinden, 593 
Nemea, 109 
Neon, 125 
Neuss, 506 
Neville's Cross, 435 . 
Newburn, 569 
Newton Butler, 608 
Nicopolis, 496 
Nile, the, 664, 668 
Nissa, 497 
Nocera, 260 
Nordlingen, 563 
Noreja, 189 
Northallerton, 409 
Northampton, 463 
North Foreland, the, 5E5 
Novara, 726 
Novi, 663 
Numantia, 185 

Ockley, 305 
Oeniadae, 102 
Oenoe, 100 
Oenophyta, 101 
Ohod, 276 
Omdurman, 760 
Oporto, 691 
Orchomenos, 192 
Orleans, 254 
Ostend, 538 
Ostrolenka, 708 
Oudenarde, 604, 613 

Palermo, 588 
Pampeluna 285 
Panormus, 158 
Paris, 543-4, 752, 753 
Parma, 380 
Pavia, 284, 519 
Pellene, 81 



79 8 



A GENERAL HISTORY 



Pelusium, 45 

Perinthus, 128 

Perusia, 212 

Pharsalia, 200 

PMlippi, 211 

Philocrene, 494 

Pinkie, 531, 533 

Pima, 630 

Pistoria, 196 

Plassey, 637 

Plataea : (battle) 92, 93 ; (siege) 106 

Poitiers; (732) 272 ; (1356) 436, 451 

Pollenti'a, 249 

Prague, 630 

Preston: (1648)572; (1715)623 

Prestonpans, 636 

Pultawa, 618 

Pultusk: (1703)617; (1806)685 

Pydna, 183 

Pyramids, the, 663 

Pyrenees, the, 697 

Quatee Bras, 700 

Eadcot Bridge, 456 

Bamillies, 603, 604, 613 

Earnleh, 361 

Bamoth Gilead, 61 

Bathmines, 579 

Kaudian Plains, 190 

Bavenna, 256 

Baymond, 737 

Beading, 306 

Eiade, 321 

Richmond, 735 

Bivoli, 660 

Borne : (408-410) 250, 251, 255 ; (1527) 519 

Boncesvalles, 285, 293 

Bossbach, 630 

Bouen, 419 



Saalfeld, 684 

Saarbriicken, 749 

Saguntum, 160 

Saints, the (1782), 642 

St. Albans : (I.) 462 ; (II.) 463 

St. Antoine, 577 

St. Denis, 541 

St. Gotthard, 590 

St. Privat, 750 

St. Vincent, Cape, 668 

Salado, 404 

Salamanca, 697 

Salamis, 91 

Samaria, 48, 61, 65 

Sandwich, 424 

San Felice, 469 

Santa Cruz, 581 

Saragossa : (758) 285 ; '1710) 605 ; (1809), 

690 
Saratoga, 461 
Sardis, 84 
Sassbach, 588 
Savannah, 740 
Scarborough Castle, 432 
Scarphaea, 183 
Sebastopol, 732-5 



Sedan, 751 

Sedgemoor, 599 

Seir, 63 

Sellasia, 177 

Sempach, 472 

Seneffe, 588 

Sentinum, 154 

Sevenoaks, 462 

Sheriffmuir, 623 

Shiloh, 735 

Shrewsbury, 459 

Sievershausen, 524 

Silarus, the, 194 

Sluys, 435 

Smerwick, 551 

Smolensk, 693 

Sohr, 629 

Soissons: (486)261; (923)301; (1814)697 

Solara. 401 

Southwold Bay, 596 

Spanish Armada, 538, 553, 554 

Speicher, 473 

Spicheren, 750 

Squillace, 334 

Stamford Bridge, 314 

Stadtlohn, 560 

Steinkeerken, 593 

Stockach: (1799) 662 ; (1800) 673 

Stralsvmd (1628) 561 ; (1715) 619 

Strassburg : (357) 244, 589 ; (1870) 751 

Sybote, 105 

Syracuse (battle), 107 ; (siege) 162 



Tagina, 260 

Tasliacozzo, 391 

Taillebourg, 425 

Talavera, 691 

Tamynae, 126 

Tanagra, 101 

Tauss, 478, 480 

Tel-el-Kebir, 758 

Tenchebrai, 406 

Testry, 272 

Tewkesbury, 463 

Texel, the, 597 

Thapsus, 201 

Thermopylae : (480), 90 ; (191) 182 

Therouenne (1479), 507 

Thrasymene Lake, the, 160 

Tiberias, 277 

Tigranocerta, 195 

Torgau, 631 

Tortona, 351 

Toul, 751 

Toulon, 657, 658 

Tours: (732) 272 ; (841, siege) 304 

Towton, 463 

Trafalgar, 681 

Trebia, the : (218 B.C.) 160 ; (1799 A.r>.) 663 

Trifanum, 151 

Troja, 384 

Troy, 77 

Tschesme\ 632 

Tunis, 158, 520 

Turin, 604, 613, 627 

Turnham Green, 570 

Tushima, 764 

Tyre, 167 



INDEX OF BATTLES, SIEGES, ETC. 799 



Holes, 401 
Ulm, 681 
Ushant, 636 

Valmy, 654 

Varna, 497 

Vauchamps, 697 

Veii, 149 

Vercelli, 299 

Verneuil, 462 

Verona : (489) 256 ; (siege) 284 

Vicksburg, 737 

Vienna, 580 

Villaviciosa, 605 

Vimiero, 690 

Vinegar Hill, 668 

Vionville, 750 

Vittoria, 697 

Vouille\ 262 

Wachau, 696 
Wagram, 691 



Wakefield, 463 
Waterloo, 667, 699-702 
Weissenberg, 749 
Wexford, 579 
White Mountain, 559 
Wiesbach, 559 
Wimpfen, 559 
Winceby, 578 
Worcester, 579, 582 
Worth, 750 

Xeees de la Fronteea, 279, 280 

Yoektown : (1781) 642 ; (1862) 73; 

Zama, 163 
Zela, 200 
Zenta, 591 
Zorndorf, 630 
Ziilpich, 262 
Zurich, 662, 663 



Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. 
Edinburgh &> London. 



Selections from 

Mr. Edward Arnold's List 

of History Books. 



A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD. 

By Oscar Browning, M.A., formerly Lecturer in History in the 

University of Cambridge. 5s. net. 
Mr. Browning traces the course of the main stream of history down to 
our own day. For the sake of convenience the book is divided into three 
conventional periods — ancient, mediaeval, and modern — but there is no 
real break in the narrative : indeed, a constant recognition of the con- 
tinuity of history is one of the chief features. How did the modern 
civilized world which we know to-day come into being ? The answer to 
that question is contained in this volume, set forth with a sense of pro- 
portion and perspective which the author has acquired by an unusually 
long experience as student and teacher in every branch of historical 
learning. 

THE ANCIENT WORLD: An Historical 

Sketch. By C. Du Pontet, M.A., Assistant Master at Harrow 
School. With Maps. 4s. 6d. 

Guardian. — "The story is admirably written, vivid in style, and interesting to read. 
Mr. Du Pontet is no colourless writer, who — 

' Sits as God, holding no form of creed, 
But contemplating all.' 
He has a strong human interest in the great drama, which he records, and this is shown by 
his constant reference, generally in the form of excellent verse translations, to contemporary 
poets and dramatists, who voice the higher emotions and ambitions of their day. The book 
is a fascinating one from the first page to the last." 

Educational Times. — "The work, though based on well-known facts, may almost be said 
to be original, so fresh and penetrating are the collocation and interpretation of the events. 
It is a signally valuable book for readers of history, whether in or out of school." 

THE LAST CENTURY IN EUROPE, 1814= 

19 10. By C. E. M. Hawkesworth, Assistant Master at Rugby 
School. 5s. net. 

Times. — " It possesses a merit rare in books of the class to which it belongs — it permits 
itself to be read through, almost at a sitting, in spite of its length, without conscious effort. 
The arrangement is good ; the inter-relation of events not obviously connected with each 
other is clearly seen and shown ; the style is light as well as lucid." 

SCENES FROM EUROPEAN HISTORY. 

By G. B. Smith, B.A., Assistant Master at the Royal Naval College, 

Osborne. 2S. 6d. 
Constructed mainly on the biographical plan, this book may be used as 
a companion to any English history text-book for the purpose of giving 
greater reality to matters of note in European History. 

Guardian. — "A series of well-written and interesting sketches of various phases and 
episodes of European history." 

LONDON : EDWARD ARNOLD, 41 & 43, MADDOX STREET, W. 



Selections from Mr. Edward Arnold's List. 



PROFESSOR OMAN'S HISTORIES. 

A HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Fully furnished with 
Maps, Plans of- the Principal Battlefields, and Genealogical Tables. 
Revised Edition. 760 pages. 5s. 

Special Editions. (Each Volume containing a separate Index.) 
In Two Parts, 3s. each : — Part I., from the Earliest Times to 1603. 

Part II., from 1603 to 1902. 
In Three Divisions: — Division I., to 1307, 2s. Division II. , 1307 to 
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*** In ordering, please state the period required, to avoid confusion. 
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has yet been written. The special characteristic which to our mind raises Mr. Oman's work 
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to call 'lucidity.' Every sentence rings out clear and sound as a bell, without any of that 
affectation of childishness which was once so common, without any of the heavy dulness 
usually so painfully prevalent." 

ENGLAND SN THE NINETEENTH CEN= 

TURY. With Maps and Appendices. 3s. 6d. 

Guardian. — "From every point of view this work strikes us as a masterly production. 
The facts are chosen with consummate judgment and presented with tact; the relation of 
cause to effect is kept well in mind, and such is the author's literary skill and teaching power 
that he is able to make even the dry records of bygone party strife and changes of ministry 
intelligible and interesting to the merest schoolboy. The whole work indeed calls for 
unqualified praise." 

SEVEN ROMAN STATESMEN OF THE 

LATER REPUBLIC. With Plates. 6s. 

Spectator. — "Every page of Mr. Oman's brilliant book is worth reading, and we cannot 
wish a young student better luck than to come across it before the austerity of the Germans 
has killed his interest in the history of Rome." 

A JUNIOR HISTORY OF ENGLAND. From 

the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria. By Charles 
Oman and Mary Oman. 2s. 

Bookman. — " The little volume is a model of compression, and yet the narrative is always 
flowing and clear. Teachers will agree, we feel sure, on the excellence of this Junior History 
of England." 

THE STUDENT'S SYNOPSIS OF ENGLISH 

HISTORY. Based chiefly upon Professor Oman's " History of 
England." Compiled by C. H. Eastwood, is. 

LONDON : EDWARD ARNOLD, 41 & 43, MADDOX STREET, W. 



Selections from Mr. Edward Arnold's List. 

A CENTURY OF EMPIRE, 1801-1900. By the 

Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., P.C., Author of "The Life 
of Wellington," etc. With Photogravure Portraits. Three volumes, 
demy 8vo. 14s. net each volume. 

Daily Telegraph. — "Sir Herbert Maxwell is admirably equipped for the task which he 
has undertaken. For he is a broad-minded, unprejudiced critic, who can see more than one 
side of a question with equanimity, and his gift for constructive analysis and for picturesque 
description is familiar to all readers of current literature and journalism. Sir Herbert 
Maxwell, while embarking upon a literary task of great subtlety and elaboration, has made a 
fine and critical beginning, and, if the remaining volumes equal the first in breadth and 
vivacity, this work will be one of the most suggestive essays in contemporary history that 
have been accomplished in our own time." 

A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLISH COM= 

MERCE AND INDUSTRY. By L. L. R. Price, M.A., Fellow of 
Oriel College, Oxford. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. $s. 6d. 

Sheffield Daily Telegraph.—" It is well adapted to the needs of students. It is, more- 
over, in the best sense popular, and should be read by all, who would gain a knowledge of 
the subject." 

ENGLISH POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY : An 

Exposition and Criticism of the Systems of Hobbes, Locke, Burke, 
Bentham, Mill, and Maine. By William Graham, M. A., late Professor 
of Jurisprudence and Political Economy at the Queen's University of 
Belfast. Second Impression. 8vo., 10s. 6d. net. 

Athenceum. — " Prof. Graham has undertaken a task of great utility, and has performed 
it adequately and attractively He has not merely made a serviceable contribution to the 
history of political ideas, he has made an original contribution to political literature. ... It 
presents a treasury of political principles, a set of reasoned conclusions on the more important 
fundamental and recurrent topics of politics." 

THE ROMANCE OF EMPIRE. By Philip gibbs, 

Author of "Knowledge is Power," etc. Crown 8vo. With Illus- 
trations, 6s. 

Sir Harrv Johnston in the Tribune. — " Mr. Gibbs has written a book as interesting as 
novel, which should have a considerable vogue as a prize in schools. It may equally well 
take its place in the libraries of people grown to maturity, for it gives within handy compass 
a nearly complete epitome of the foundation of the British Empire." 

LONDON : EDWARD ARNOLD, 41 & 43, MADDOX STREET, W. 



Selections from' Mr. Edward Arnold's List. 

THUCYDIDES MYTHISTORICUS. ByF.MAc- 

donald Cornford, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Demy 
8vo. i os. 6d. net. 

Athenceum.—" Mr. Cornford's analysis of Thucydides' Artistic Treatment of Alcibiades 
is masterly, and we find it hard to lay down the book, even during a second reading. It is 
in the highest degree stimulating, and should be given to growing students, that it may excite 
them to feel the splendours of Greek Art in its various manifestations. A very delightful 
book. 1 ' 

JERUSALEM UNDERTHE HIGH PRIESTS. 

By Edwyn R. Bevan. Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d. 

Cambridge Review. — " These lectures deserve careful study by everyone interested in 
the history of how Hellenism and Judaism first came into contact." 



THE HOUSE OF SELEUCUS. By edwyn r. 

Bevan. With Portraits, Plates, and Maps. Two vols. Demy 8vo. 
30s. net. 

Times. — " It is seldom that the critic welcomes a work of so much ambition and achieve- 
ment from a new historian as ' The House of Seleucus.' . . . The first serious attempt made 
in modern times to treat the Seleucid realm as a whole, apart from the other Macedoniai 
kingdoms. The result is astonishingly successful. ... As an authority on authorities Mr. 
Bevan's book will long retain a very high value." 

AlhencEnm.— " Mr. Bevan shows himself complete master of his subject. . . . Such 
writing as this makes us hail in Mr. Bevan the appearance 01 a new historian fit to stand 
beside the best of the French or German specialists." 

Saturday Review. — "'The House of Seleucus' should undoubtedly be read by all who 
take an interest in ancient history." 

THE PRINCES OF ACHAIA AND THE 

CHRONICLES OF MOREA. A Study of Greece in the 

Middle Ages. By Sir Rennell Rodd, G.C.V.O., K.C.M.G., C.B. 

Two vols. Demy 8vo. With Illustrations and Map. 25s. net. 

Daily Telegraph. — " He has enriched our historical literature with a work which is a 
valuable accumulation of facts, set forth in a highly interesting fashion." 

ROME THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD. 

By Alice Gardner. Illustrated. Third Impression. Crown 8vo. 
3s. 6d. 

Saturday Review. — " Miss Gardner's book on the Emperor Julian reconciled many- 
readers to a singularly interesting personality. In her present volume she addresses a 
younger audience, but in treating of a much wider subject she displays the same grasp and 
scholarship. . . . Her method of appealing to the imagination by a series ol strongly-lined 
pictures will probably do more to make Roman history a living thing to children than seried 
dates and a philosophical argument of causes and effects." 



LONDON : EDWARD ARNOLD, 41 & 43, MADDOX STREET, W. 



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